What Does It Mean To "Deal With It"?

 

Sometimes it is best to just be quiet and not say anything.  Since November, I have tried to be sensitive to the feelings of the people in my country who disagree with me and are disappointed and hurting at this time.  I know that four years ago I was broken hearted on so many levels.  I realize that it isn't a good feeling to have a candidate that you believe in lose.  It isn't a good feeling to no longer have the leadership you are convinced is the best choice.  Four years ago I was in agony.  I threw up in my mouth when they announced who won the presidential election in 2016.  But you know,  sometimes you have to lean into it.  I tried to do things that I felt were positive for the ideals that I believe in.  

Aligning myself with others that shared my values proved to be crucial to my survival.  Backing off from trying to convince anyone of the value of my ideas who had other political persuasions became a path of least resistance.  I decided to build myself up and preach to the choir for awhile.  I ventured out a bit with my ideas in public but overall stayed quiet and didn't try to engage the opposition. 

I took the time as an opportunity to grow and mature.  To learn stress management when laws were passed that threatened the progress I felt had been made in the past.  To practice things to quiet anxiety when our national parks were at risk due to public policy.  To read and grow and learn about the complicated race problem in my country.  

I came to grips with the fact that I live in a country where everyone has a right to their opinion.  A country where we each get to vote for whomever we want to vote for.  We don't always get to have our candidate win.  But we always have the right to disagree.  One of my ex husbands frequently wore a t-shirt which had the words "deal with it" on it.  Sometimes we have to deal with it.  For me that means to do positive activities that are in my best interests.  Turn what I perceive  as a a bad thing upside down and make it into as  positive of a thing as possible.  

The following videos are  a couple of favorite songs.  They are meaningful to me.  I am not unsympathetic to the pain that half the country is feeling, even though I disagree with them.  But it is time for people to get a grip and begin to engage in a positive way.  It is time for people to figure it out.  It is time to "deal with it". Or as my mother used to  say "Straighten up!".