Looking to the Future...

I sit here tonight watching the Presidential Election results roll in. At this point, most of the news networks are calling the election in favor of President Obama. As I look on Facebook, I see so many friends lamenting that it is now the end of the world, or at least of America. I can't bring myself to accept that.

I wanted Mitt Romney to win. I voted for him and I would vote for him again. I believe he would and could be an excellent leader. I think he has the experience and knowledge to do good things for our country, but it doesn't look like that will be the case. I remember sitting in a very similar situation 4 years ago. I remember actually feeling scared for what would happen if Barack Obama was elected president. I didn't want it to happen then either, but it did. And we survived. Yes, we are struggling...and we may struggle more in the next 4 years, but I don't think it's the end. And, I hope that I'm right.

In the last few weeks, I keep thinking about an experience I had when I was young. It must have been in 1993, which means I was 12. President Bill Clinton was elected president and I said something negative about him in front of my grandpa. Now, I was 12. I didn't know anything about politics really, or even about the president. I'm sure whatever I said was based on things I'd heard my older family members say. In fact, I distinctly remember hearing my grandpa say negative things about President Clinton before the election. So, it surprised me on that day, when I said something negative, that my grandpa said to me, "It doesn't matter if you don't agree with him, he is the president of the United States, so you need to respect that". That has always stuck with me.

I don't agree with many things that President Obama does or says, but he's still the president. This is the way that our country works. Sometimes the people we don't want to be elected are. Sometimes the bills and propositions we don't want to pass do. And the good news is that sometimes the opposite happens. We win! We get what we want! But, no matter what, we can't give up. I believe that.

The good news, in my opinion, is that the President should answer to the people. I know people are concerned that he won't listen to what we, the people, have to say. I know there have been time this has been the case in the past even (i.e., Obamacare). But, I choose to hope for the best. I think the key now is to STAY INVOLVED. Keep track of what is happening. Write to your congressmen. Make things an issue. Don't let things slide by. Keep the president, whoever that may be, on track with what we believe as a country.

I think that this is where we fail sometimes as a people. We talk a lot about politics, but we don't follow through. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I need to be more involved. And I think many people are just like me; WE all need to be more involved in how our country is run.

Yes, sometimes the majority gets it wrong. Personally, I think this may be the case here. BUT, I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to throw my hands in the air and say, "that's it! America is over!" We can never give up. We, the people, of the United States of America can and should constantly stay involved in what is happening in our country. Because, you know what? I'm still proud to be an American!