“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
I and many of my friends are not happy today. The old Chinese curse comes to mind, “May you live in interesting times.” And there’s no doubt about it; things are about to get very interesting.
We need to get on with it, roll up our sleeves, pull on our boots, and go to work.
It won’t be easy.
We must move quickly through our first four stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression.
This will all be painfully hard, but if we keep our eyes focused on the fifth, and final stage, acceptance, only then can our real work begin.
We mistakenly chose this path years ago, allowing our country to divide into two parallel universes. We moved into our comfortable places, in our comfortable households, with those who comfortably looked and acted like us.
We didn’t think much about the parallel universe beside us. We didn’t think of all the others, with their different skin colors, languages, and faith traditions. They were there, if we had looked closer.
We separated this nation, and now it is up to us to bring it back together.
The value of this painful election will be in reminding us how good we are as a nation, how multicultural we have always been, and how much better we can be, by going forward – together.
Now the real work begins. What do you think? How were you shocked by this election, or did you see it coming?
What are your solutions to bringing us together?
How can we make our best days still be ahead of us?
As always, the conversation starts here.
“In the ordinary choices of every day we begin to change the direction of our lives.” – Eknath Easwaran
Epilogue
Could the world be as dived as this video suggest? How can we begin to repair the damage?
For the past eight years, many of us lamented the fact that the Republicans opposed everything that President Obama put forth and that, as a result, nothing got done. If we (Democrats) do the same thing to President-elect Trump, then the likelihood is that some stuff will get done that we dislike intensely or, more likely, nothing will get done.
Jeff –
Thanks for your comment. There is only one road now, Forward. I pray we can do it together.
– Bruce
I was not shocked by the election results. Mr. Trump was not my first choice but I finally realized that, unlike some people, I wasn’t trying to elect a “role model” but rather a president who would preserve the Constitution and govern with a conservative agenda. We have problems to solve together. The Scientific Method of Problem Solving calls first for us to identify the problem. In my opinion, we have a cultural, family mores problem that is at the root of most of the problems that exist in in our country today. Teen age pregnancy, education results gaps, inner… Read more »
Ken –
Congratulations on your candidates victory. I agree, “We have problems to solve together.”
You list some items that you say “…are symptoms of the problem but not the problem itself.” What is the problem itself? “The Scientific Method of Problem Solving calls first for us to identify the problem.” I agree, that’s where we start. Is it one problem or is it a long and complicated list?
– Bruce
I have to say I disagree with your thoughts… “We mistakenly chose this path years ago, allowing our country to divide into two parallel universes. ” Many in our country have lived in two parallel universes for the country’s entire history. When do you think our country has been united? Not during the 1800’s and the years of slavery. Not during the Jim Crow years or the 60’s Nixon, Vietnam years. I fight back against nostalgia for better days. Those were better days for some, not all. To move forward, we must own the sins of the past. We live… Read more »
Tracy –
Thank you for joining the conversation. Indeed, our world has lived in separate universes for way too long.
My hope is in finding, “…how good we are as a nation, how multicultural we have always been, and how much better we can be, by going forward – together.”
I do not want the clocks turned back. I want to keep moving forward. Our best days are still ahead of us.
– Bruce
The election result is a surprise to most people, even Trump himself, I’ll venture to think. He had a lot to thank our outdated electoral college system. Hilary is the 5th victim to win the popular vote but lose the election!
So, now our first priority is to fix our election system and take the big money out of political maneuvers.
We want every vote TRULY counts!
Rose –
Yes, there is much work ahead for all. Now we roll up our sleeve. Thanks for being part of the conversation.
– Bruce
Interesting discussion. I believe we have a few major problems at the national level. I mentioned one of these in my comments above. A loss of strong family mores in our larger metropolitan areas, most prevalent in wide swaths of both coasts and in upper regions of the Midwest (the Rust Belt). The nation wide economy is another. Immigration reform is also a major issue in my opinion. National defense has become a national problem recently. Global Climate Change is not a major concern of mine. International relationships, while not much different than than forever, still require time and energy.… Read more »
Ken –
That is a long and complex list.
As you are the chieftain of our family clan, I would ask you to carefully consider one statement, “Global Climate Change is not a major concern of mine.” I suggest you speak to the youngest in our clan to learn how they feel. They will be the ones to live with our decisions. I want us to be good ancestors, so while Climate Change may not matter to you, it will matter greatly to them.
Thanks for your thoughts and for staying with the conversation.
– Bruce
The next 4 years will make us think about who we are and our relationships with one another – both here in the US and with other countries. There are pluses and minuses ahead for all of us. It will be a mix of top-down and bottom-up. We need to talk and listen to each other. It’s going to be a learning experience – but that’s what life is all about.
Jack –
Thanks for your comment. Yes, listening to each other will be a learning experience. I pray we are up to it.
– Bruce
Please read again:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/10/15/greenpeace-founder-delivers-powerful-annual-lecture-praises-carbon-dioxide-full-text/
The current discussion on global climate issues is being led by radical, powerful extremists, including those in the media, practicing the black art of coercion by ridiculing dissent and lending support to those who accept their radical, unproven positions.
In short, I don’t believe the alarmists. They don’t have real science support and I don’t believe the human race has need to fear global climate change.
Next time you see a rainbow, think about what that means.
This explains the “powerful” media I mentioned in my previous post here.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/11/when_the_leftmedia_becomes_a_crying_cult_.html
Thanks Ken, yes – we all need to do our own research.
– Bruce
If a democracy can be defined as 2 lions and a lamb deciding what to eat for dinner, then so called constitutional republic must be a pack of wolf circling around a herd of tame lambs! Trump was one of the wolf, now leads the pack.
Rose –
Thanks for staying in the conversation. There do seem to be too many wolves in our community today.
However, the wolves we are talking about in this discussion are not our North Carolina Red Wolf. They are different and do need our help. 🙂
– Bruce
If I were a Democrat and a contributor to the Party (I am an Independent), I would be mad as &@$#!! If they had nominated a candidate with far less baggage, a person who the polls showed could be trusted, female or male or person of color , you name it, and a platform that took into account over 70% of the voters felt the country was headed in the wrong direction they would have won by the largest margin since the Goldwater defeat in the 1960’s. Simply put, they underestimated the feelings of the voting public. And now they… Read more »
Bill –
Yes, many of us missed the two parallel universes, “moving into our comfortable places, in our comfortable households, with those who comfortably looked and acted like us,” missing, as you point out, that “70% of the voters felt the country was headed in the wrong direction.”
Too much time in the office, with people just like me, was always a bad formula in my business. I needed to get out with customers to know what they really wanted.
Thanks for being part of Choices Do Matter.
– Bruce
Oh My God!! Bruce….this is wonderful!! It is unbiast, not blameful, very respectful. Something that, when I’m on a rant, havevtrouble slowing down.
Due to the election, I woke up and started stress eating.
That was an interesting video you picked out. What I gathered was, we need to keep reading to dissolve into other worlds durrong this painful time. Maybe by reading, we will find ourselves once more.
At least that’s what I got out of it.
Take care,
Elizabeth from Yellowstone.
Peace!!
Elizabeth –
Yes, the election was stressful to many. I hope your are better. Our oldest granddaughter used to hold her breath when she was stressed. Of course, she couldn’t do that for four years! HaHa
I am glad you liked the video, reading is important and the young woman in the video learning to read is powerful.
Thanks for being in the conversation at Choices Do Matter.
– Bruce