As I write this the Sunday before the election, I have no clue what Wednesday, November 9th will look like…the day you will be reading this. If I had a crystal ball I don’t think I would even want to look. What I see from my Sunday view is a country that has been pulled apart like a tug of war. Honestly, it breaks my heart. Our friends, families, schools districts, small towns, communities and our country has never been so torn apart. Our bridges are down. Those roads that connect us. I know that today, of all days, the media and the noise will be loud. It will be coming at us from all sides. Regardless of the outcome, there will be a lot of emotions, fear, anger, confusion, to name a few. The only thing we can control is our reaction.
There is nothing about Charity Matters that is political. Charity Matters is about people coming together to help one another. Not one person I have ever interviewed has asked me my political beliefs, nor I theirs. Why? Because it doesn’t matter. What does matter and is our human connection to one another. Our willingness to reach out and help. Our ability to disregard political beliefs for the greater good of caring for each other. Something we all seem to lose sight of these days, myself included.
The pandemic did a lot to destroy connections and the election before that didn’t do our communities any favors either. We talk about our friends and families differently now because of their politics. Something that has never happened in my lifetime. We categorize people and listen less. Rather than coming together to discuss where we are similar, we write people off because they believe differently.
If bell curves are a real thing, and I believe they are, then we are all actually in the middle together. Somehow, the media has us all playing tug of war at the bottom of those bell curves with CNN on one side and FOX on the other. We should be working together not pulling ourselves apart, because we are more alike than different.
We are afraid. Yes, there is much to worry about gas prices, inflation, education, crime, safety, and the environment. These are real and valid reasons. However, fear should not stop us from listening to one another. Different ideas need to be valued, respected for their similarities and differences. Life would be oh so dull if we all thought the exact same way. Each conversation is an opportunity to learn how someone else feels and sees things. These conversations are how we begin to build a consensus and a common ground to move forward.
This country was built on helping our neighbors, it is who we are as Americans. My wish is for all of us to turn off the TV, phone a friend or a neighbor to say hello. Make a human connection. Remember, we all need to lean in little by little to get bridges built again. It starts with simply phoning a friend. We are stronger when we work with one another and not against. It is the only way the state of things gets better when each of us becomes our best. It all starts with us.
CHARITY MATTERS.
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