When the election is called, your reality will not drastically change. But how you handle your reality can drastically change everything around you. If you react with levity and calm, those around you just might do the same. –Hedreich Nichols
Y’all know I viewed life from the church bench from right behind the piano where my mama, grandmama and great-grandmom before me all played for the choir. Although I know faith is not everybody’s thing, it has taught me some valuable lessons that are universally useful.
The line from an old hymn–be not dismayed whate’er betide is perfect for this moment. Will who is in the White House really change what happens to you and your family tomorrow morning? Will you cease to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, love because your candidate does or does not move in/out on January 20th?
Yes, you wanted to make America great again and erase the havoc that 8 years of the Obama presidency and ensuing accusations of radical ‘cancel culture’ attitudes have wreaked.
Yes you wanted to show the world that America is an inclusive place that does not control people’s bodies, judge who they love or how they look; a place that acknowledges, and seeks to right, historical wrongs.
Maybe you get what you want. Maybe you don’t. One way or another, a favorite saying of parents and teachers of littles is, “you git what you git and you don’t throw a fit”. We have a democracy. When it speaks, we adhere to the proclamation and get in line to forgive, or at least move past, the evils of the other side to become one nation indivisible again. There are wrongs, there are attacks, there are selfish moves that I do not understand, however, I know that the “other side” thinks the same about my side.
I cannot change everyone’s opinion and I have ceased to waste energy trying. I suggest you do the same. Don’t throw good money after bad, as the folks saying goes. Don’t spend your time on social media, or at the table arguing with friends, co-workers and relatives. Unless you are very lucky, this won’t be the first time you have to forgive and extend grace without your pain being acknowledged. So extend and model grace and levity for the good of everyone.
When the election is called, your reality will not drastically change. But how you handle your reality can drastically change everything around you. If you react with levity and calm, those around you just might do the same.
Be not dismayed, whate’er betide, God will take care of you. Whether you believe all the words Sis. Mamie Lee Lott used to sing on Sundays, the first part remains true. Be not dismayed. Don’t worry. Remember the lessons of your youth on the quotidianness of opinions and the wisdom of saying nothing more often than saying something. And if you need to voice your opinion about the evils and ills of the world, write your congressional representative, call your school board member or better yet, run for office yourself.
Be not dismayed. Yes, I know there is a lot at stake. I have some big feelings too. But, I know that when the election is called, all I can do is keep being the best person I know how to be. I hope you’ll join me.