Once again, I am procrastinating, sort of. I am taking the Florida Real Estate Brokers test tomorrow. The past few weeks I have been studying and quite honestly, I am ready to be done with it. I am hopeful that I have enough right answers to warrant a passing score, but if not, that is okay. Life is pretty busy, as I am sure it is for many of you. As I get older my ability to focus on one thing and retain information is questionable. I would like to blame my age, but I am resistant. This comes from the woman who needs bifocals, but chooses to spend all day removing my glasses to read, type or do anything that requires up close eye attention. I am just not ready to concede that my eyeballs are aging along with the rest of me.
Simply put, my brain chaos is out muscling my ability to focus. There is so much noise in the world that it is a daily challenge to keep my brain on one thing. When I notice this, of course I stop to figure out why. As of late, most of the chatter everywhere is about politics. Before I begin with the conclusions of my self-introspection, I want to make clear that I am not a political junkie by any means. I try to stay as informed as I can with the issues that are currently at the forefront. That being said, I am a registered independent and make my voting decisions based on many factors.
The qualities that I value in candidates very closely align with qualities that I strive to have in my own life. First is authenticity. Good luck on that one. As a gay woman, the next election is scaring me. It may surprise some to know that I am not a fan of Hillary Clinton. She is the gay woman’s dream president, but I am not sold on her. She is the ultimate politician and for me this is a problem. The republican side is even more frightening. Trump and Carson. Nope. While I find Trump to be authentic, I am also not a fan of his particular brand of authenticity. Carson perhaps is the most problematic candidate in my eyes. His brand of authenticity is more suited for a position within the Vatican. The troubling thing is how popular his campaign and his positions are with voters in this country.
There are a couple of things to consider as we all prepare for the next year of politics in advance of casting our votes for next president. For those who are in the pro-life camp, you cannot be pro-life and for the death penalty. It is a contradiction. Period. For those who believe that our country is falling apart because freedom of religion is being taken away, stop saying that our nation was founded on Christian values. It was not. Click here if you don’t believe me. For the second amendment crusaders who believe that the government is trying to take guns away from them, it is not. To date, not a single gun has been taken away from any law abiding citizen. No, really. Not one.
Many seem to have fallen down the “us versus them” rabbit hole and I am not confident it will be easy to reverse this course unless we take seriously how destructive this thinking is. Every facet of life is ripe with opportunities to take a side. There is a way to be passionate about whatever position you have without being hateful and closeminded. I hope that we can be reminded of this each time we encounter someone who does not share our beliefs, political party, or journey in life. Compassion, listening and respect take a back seat to anger, judgement, and condemnation. Frankly, I am sad about that.
We are missing out on the beauty of one another, in spite of what our party affiliation may be. I wish that things were different but my magic peace wand is still in the shop. If we could all commit to becoming less hostile and more loving I think that our world would be better for it. The first step is choosing to channel our energy and passion towards being kind rather than right. I will remember this after I take my exam tomorrow. My goal is 100% right.