One year ago Donald Trump was elected president, and the country had a total freak out.
I was reminded of this yesterday when a post I wrote the day after the election entitled It’s not a death sentence. It’s a wake-up call popped up in my newsfeed.
In a nutshell, I wrote about people’s inability to communicate effectively with each other (myself included) about pretty much anything where there is a difference of opinion, but especially with respect to politics.
I thought maybe it would be an opportunity for the entire country to do some reflecting and make some changes, and even though it didn’t seem like if for a lot of people, maybe in the long run, this would be a good thing.
Fast forward to now.
You know I’m in love with Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations podcast.
And last week I was listening to an episode where Oprah spoke with Brother David Steindl-Rast, a 91-year-old Benedictine monk who you may know from his TED Talk about gratitude.
He says,
“You have to stop long enough to be present. And THEN you can listen look, smell if necessary. What is now the opportunity that life offers me at this moment? And then GO AND GRAB IT! Do something with it!”
Then Oprah asked him, “Can being grateful inspire a revolution?”
And he responded,
“There are two possibilities in life — either to trust life or to be fearful of life. Fearfulness makes you violent. The root of violence is fearfulness… [People] are afraid of one another that the other one will get ahead. So you get competition and rivalry and then you get greed because people think ‘Oh there is not enough.’ Fear there is not enough. And if you fear there is not enough, you want to get as much as possible for yourself. Exactly the opposite is when you trust life because then you are not fearful. Instead of violence — nonviolence. Peace. That is exactly the world all of us want. A world of peace. Of cooperation and of sharing.”
What I have noticed here locally in my town is that people are taking advantage of opportunities being offered them.
With respect to local politics, for the first time ever, the Board of Finance in my town has two women on it, and the Board of Education has six women on it!
I am positive this would not have happened had last year’s presidential election gone the other way.
People are taking action. People are seizing opportunities. People are making changes.
In particular, women are getting sh*t done! And they are involving, educating and inspiring their children. They are running for office.
This is great!
There is lots to be grateful for!
Last year’s election inspired action. It inspired people to do something.
The cream is rising to the top!
We still have a long way to go. I suppose that could be viewed as a negative thing.
Or we can view it instead as many more opportunities for growth and improvement out there waiting for us.
On a personal level, remember this as life presents you with challenging situations.
Whether it’s a parenting challenge, a marital challenge, a financial challenge — in the words of Brother David Steindl-Rast,
“Life gives you the opportunity to do something with what life gives you. Avail yourself of that opportunity… we have the opportunity to stretch even further than we have before.”
It is out of hardship and catastrophe, that you realize your true potential.
Trust in the opportunities life presents you with, have hope, and whatever it is you are facing, keep going.
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