After spending a night cramming for what felt like an exam, I voted. Though unlike other exams I did not have the “None of the above” option.
As I left the voting booth, I thought about my friends and what they were saying on social media, whether they swung left or right or everything in between. And I realized something.
Passion is a powerful thing, compassion even more powerful.
No matter what the results, the real test will come in the morning after. It’s a matter of how we as a people respond to not only our new president but to one another. It’s a matter of reaching out to “them,” those people whom stand across a perceived line we believe to exist, holding a set of beliefs that look different from ours.
It's a call to make these people human again. To listen to their frustrations and insecurities. To understand our common goal of making this place better. To be willing to even disagree and yet, as Evelyn Beatrice Hall once wrote, "Defend to the death your right to say it."
After all, this is the beauty of our country.
We're promised the right of free speech. Something many citizens in the world are not guaranteed. This could give us some hurtful, ignorant, even dangerous comments. (We don't have to look far into the Twitterverse to see the proof.) But I believe there is a greater danger when we begin to take away the freedom for others to express themselves.
How I respond to my neighbors, as off-base as they might seem, will be more telling of my real beliefs than whether I voted red or blue. The challenge is to be kind, gracious and civil in the face of disagreement.
We're also a people whose creativity and ardor have defined our progress more than any politician ever has. We build companies, create apps, make art, make new cuisine and continue to push the boundaries of science and technology. We are a nation of people who pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. This is the collective attitude of resilience that must persist in this country, and in the world.
No president will ever solve all our problems—and we don't need them to.
The power to change anything must begin with us.
Are we willing to recognize our own limitations, while seeing the heights of our potential? Are we committed to loving and helping our brother and sister even when they don't look, talk or dress the same? Are we devoted to the radical idea of loving and praying for our enemies?
This is the real test.