Ep 5: Don't Feed Your E-Day Anxiety
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Audio Transcript
Elections have consequences and also bring about an immense amount of anxiety for some people. I would know because I am unashamedly one of those people. And we’ve heard a lot about how this is the most important & consequential election in our lifetimes, and we hear that every election year, but this year, it is actually true. So much is on the line right now as we stand just one day before a monumental day in this nations history.
Today and the days to come can either be moments of hope for the future or leave many of us wondering what comes next – fearful and frustrated about what lies ahead not only for our American dream, but for those that we love as well.
Now I don’t think there’s an end all for dealing with election related anxiety. That’d be a little bit of a farce, mostly because today is likely to be an anxious day regardless of how hard you try for it not to be. But with that said, as someone that comes from a background of politics and has worked on numerous political campaigns, I’ve become a little expert in compartmentalizing the emotion of Election Day. So how do I do it?
Stay busy. I pre-occupy myself with needed task until at least 9:30 PM on the east coast. Why that time? By then it’s a little more clear which direction the results may be going in. You save yourself the hours of punditry and bias opinions about what’s happening. It makes it like you’re watching election returns instead of a heavyweight boxing match. Honestly, because we’ve turned our politics into sports, the best way to decrease the anxiety is by decreasing the amount of sportification we participate in. That’s just a small step
I consistently, patiently and lovingly remind myself that I have absolutely no control over the results. And I know that sounds scary at first, but there’s a certain level of solace that comes with recognizing the things that are within your control and which things aren’t. Because more often than not, the worst case scenario we concoct in our heads is opposite of what Reality actually brings us
So here’s my exaltation to you — so long as you’ve done your civic duty and voted, regardless of political party, ideology or who you voted for, you can rest easy, go and try to knock out those tasks you’ve procrastinated on for a month, or even watch a film or start a TV show that’s been in your queue for weeks. You’ve done your part and fulfilled your responsibility to your country, now, take some time and fulfill your responsibility to yourself. That’s important to do everyday, and we do it because we are not worthless, we are not failures, we are worthy of life, and we are worthy of love. Go win the day.