MUSINGS ON WHY YOU'RE THE OBSTACLE, NOT THE POTUS
***Author's Note*** I, much like many of you, am not a certified any of the following: philosopher, behavioral economist, regular-ole economist, political theorist, sociologist, psychologist, or any other 'gist' of note. Despite these limitations, I'm hopeful the rant below helps someone (including myself) be more proactive, more thoughtful, more driven, regardless of tomorrow's election outcome.
The 2016 Presidential Election season has made me a lot of things, the least of which is proud. It hasn't made me proud of my country; it hasn't made me proud of my fellow citizens; most importantly, and I'll argue here that is should also be most important to you as well, it hasn't made me proud of myself.
Why? Why would the misgivings of an election year - a time often wrought with political discourse, disagreement, and disses - make me feel badly about myself? Well I, much like many of you, have been disappointed in both candidates during this election year. My time here won't be spent discussing the laundry list of transgressions from Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. These actions have cast a cloud so immense that it needs no further breathe from these lips to shroud the American conscious.
What, then, will I spend the time on instead: I, we, can and should strive to do better regardless of tomorrow's outcome. Will the election of either Donald or Hillary be the reason you don't open the bakery of your dreams? Will it be the reason you don't move toward exercising more regularly? Start learning a foreign language? Begin taking free online courses to better yourself? Lend a helping hand in your community? Will the (extremely marginal for 99.9995% of us) higher or lower taxes you might see in twelve months - yes, that's how long it will be before we actually start to feel the affects of either president elect's desires - be the reason that you decide against getting your real estate license? Or, as it is in my particular case, will it be the reason you don't write more despite having knowledge, skills, eagerness and necessary tools to do so?
Why? Why would the misgivings of an election year - a time often wrought with political discourse, disagreement, and disses - make me feel badly about myself? Well I, much like many of you, have been disappointed in both candidates during this election year. My time here won't be spent discussing the laundry list of transgressions from Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. These actions have cast a cloud so immense that it needs no further breathe from these lips to shroud the American conscious.
What, then, will I spend the time on instead: I, we, can and should strive to do better regardless of tomorrow's outcome. Will the election of either Donald or Hillary be the reason you don't open the bakery of your dreams? Will it be the reason you don't move toward exercising more regularly? Start learning a foreign language? Begin taking free online courses to better yourself? Lend a helping hand in your community? Will the (extremely marginal for 99.9995% of us) higher or lower taxes you might see in twelve months - yes, that's how long it will be before we actually start to feel the affects of either president elect's desires - be the reason that you decide against getting your real estate license? Or, as it is in my particular case, will it be the reason you don't write more despite having knowledge, skills, eagerness and necessary tools to do so?
For the past 6 months, it feels as though we've been locked inside a time capsule heading to Mars*. Everyone claims to hate the ride, but step into the world of social media and all I can see is people talking about is, well, how much they hate the ride. No one - no one that Facebook's prioritization algorithm gives credence to at least - seems to be talking about how they are, can or should be doing something better for themselves. Regardless of your political affiliation, I'm convinced that we (you+me = we) can be working toward doing things better in our own little slice of the world, election results be damned. Though I do believe that our societal fabric is woven, over the course of time, from the results of such elections, I refuse to buy the narrative that the invisible, omnipotent hand of tomorrow's election is guiding the hands writing this note to you all today.
*One of Elon Musk's companies, SpaceX, is actually figuring out ways to make Mars a tourist destination. He is in the 0.0005% who should actually change their behavior solely based on tomorrow's election.
So here's a rallying cry to the movers, shakers, makers, and bakers out there in my ever-so-small audience. This post, at least in a certain way, is my way of heeding this much needed advice. Despite that audience being "too small" or my blog being "too uncool", the fact is that this is something I love to do, can do, and starting now, will return to doing more often, election 2016 be damned.
*One of Elon Musk's companies, SpaceX, is actually figuring out ways to make Mars a tourist destination. He is in the 0.0005% who should actually change their behavior solely based on tomorrow's election.
So here's a rallying cry to the movers, shakers, makers, and bakers out there in my ever-so-small audience. This post, at least in a certain way, is my way of heeding this much needed advice. Despite that audience being "too small" or my blog being "too uncool", the fact is that this is something I love to do, can do, and starting now, will return to doing more often, election 2016 be damned.
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