The turmoil surrounding our latest political situation has been truly upsetting to me. Up until this point I have tried very hard to be open minded. To see things from all sides. I try to meet people where they are, even if I don't agree with them, I truly believe that people can find a way to, at the very least, coexist with another person's belief's and ideology. As I watched this election unfold I, as they say, felt all the feels. Disbelief, disgust, fear, foreboding, anger, frustration, helplessness. We live in a country of democracy, choice, loud voices, free voices and unfortunately intolerance and sore losers. That's right losers. In a competition there is always a winner and a loser. And the presidential election is the biggest most public competition of them all. It is a popularity contest. Who can get the most people to like them? Who can be the most shocking, the most well spoken? Who can dig up the most dirt on the other competitors? With social media entering the cultural fray in the last 10 years all of the voices we listen to have gotten louder and more far reaching.
I have just a few things to say and then I will be done and we don't have to talk about it any more. Donald Trump was elected by popular vote to be the President of the United States. Period. That's it. The end. This is a democracy. We have been electing presidents since George Washington was inaugurated in 1789. People are given the chance to hear the candidates, become informed on the issues and cast their vote. The vote has been cast folks. The people have spoken and President Trump is in. I am having the hardest time understanding why some of us who did not vote for him can not be a gracious loser. Was he my pick? Nope. Did I vote for him? I did not. Do I respect the office he holds and will continue to obey the law and do my best to stand by my country? Absofreakinglutely. Please lets be civil. Please lets be gracious. Please lets be kind and supportive. Please lets be a good example to our children of losing with class. Losing with dignity and composure. Of supporting the system even when the system does not reflect your desires.
Tolerance is a funny word. I've heard it used a lot lately. We should all be more tolerant, we should tolerate specific groups of people, tolerate certain ideologies, we should have tolerance for others. Do we really understand what Tolerance means? It is the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. Existence or behavior one does not agree with. This is not happening in our society. And I am sick to death of listening to people call other people to repentance for not tolerating one thing or the other when they themselves can not leave people and their opinions alone. If you don't like something, fine. We live in a place where you can say loud and clear what you don't like and you have the choice to take steps to make changes. However, eventually every one has to learn we do not always get what we want. This is a lesson I like to think I learned at a very young age. When I didn't get picked for the team I wanted to play on, when my mom made me share my dolls with my little sister, when I didn't get in to my first choice of college. We do not always get things our way.
Sometimes we get so busy in our righteous tolerance that we forget not everyone has to agree with each other. Just because a voice is loud does not mean it is right. Social media allows our opinions and voices to be heard across the globe. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad, I am a white, middle class, college educated Mormon woman. I live a beautiful life with healthy children, a loving husband, in a safe neighborhood. I pay my taxes, I own a gun, I am pro life and do not work outside my home. My husband and I are a team, I defer to him on certain matters in our marriage and he defers to me on others. We are small business owners and we want to provide and safe work environment for our employees with good benefits and high expectations. My life is fraught with hardships and challenges that other people do not face. Other people struggle with things that I do not. I think its none of my business if people want to marry who they love, I think we live in a society that is not perfect and not equal but I think most of us are good and are trying hard. Do not judge me for my life, my beliefs and my choices. Do not look down on me because I didn't march around with a sign proclaiming my feminine rights. I feel very comfortable with my feminine rights. I don't judge you. Be who you are, love who you will and form your opinions. But take your own advice and be tolerant of those who may not be just like you.
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