It's getting rather tedious, really, the debates and the outrage, the taking sides. I can't remember a time when I felt quite so drawn in to politics, almost on a daily basis. I feel a bit like I'm rubbernecking, and I'm sick of it. I'm taking a leave of absence to focus on something more useful, like folding the laundry.
Seriously though, isn't it about time we move on from that which we have no control? Read the papers, sure, stay informed enough to cast your votes intelligently. But beyond that, who are we kidding? We are wasting precious time and energy while our lives go by on fast forward.
I'm really much more interested in hearing about your other interests and your dreams. Who are you? What do you want? How are you trying to make that happen every day? Now that is exciting. That is the conversation I want to have.
We're all going to die you know. The world will keep spinning and politics will keep its tangled, messy place in our country. The optimists among us believe the consciousness of mankind is rising, slowly perhaps, but steadily. But too much time spent swimming in today's political climate weighs us down, making progress slower than it has to be.
In politics, it is difficult not to focus on the issues and the people that we don't like. And when we focus on the good, the progress our country has made, the strides our president has made, we often find ourselves defending that view from others. Or we can't help ourselves from feeling outraged and disgusted by certain characters who call themselves leaders. It brings out the worst in us, and in that frame of mind, we can do no good. When we are focusing on all that is wrong, how can we simultaneously be doing something that is meaningfully, fabulously right?
Change and productivity and growth and fulfillment in life require a healthy state of mind. Raising children to be decent, compassionate, global citizens who care about the earth and their brothers and sisters they share it with, requires nurturing those traits, and setting an example for them. It does not require pointing out all the people whom we think are "getting it wrong". It sure as hell doesn't require politics.
If you were going to die in a month, how much time would spend thinking about Donald Trump or Kim Davis or even the state of our congress? How much time would you spend defending your point of view, the one that falls on deaf ears? Or commiserating with those who share your view? My guess is none. My guess is you and I would check out of politics completely.
I am inviting you to join me in checking out now. I didn't say checking out of caring for our country. I didn't say becoming uninformed. I said checking out of politics. Leaving the playground, the circus, the call-it-what-you-will. It's weighing us down. We are stalling our own growth, bleeding our own life's energy out, when we fall into the collective soul leaching culture of politics. For me anyhow, it is maddening at worst, and entertaining at best. And not a damn thing changes by me getting worked up about it.
We can change things for the better though, and we are, for ourselves and each other and all who come after us. We can keep being mindful our choices. We can recycle, plant a garden, go to the gym, volunteer, be a good friend. Find our passions, work to be a better people. Eat right, do our best, withhold judgement, build a deck. We can do things that lead to results.
Get enough sleep, walk our dogs, help a neighbor, and give to a good cause. Work for a good cause. Take good care of ourselves and others. When we do, we contribute to the greater good.
I've got work to do, a life to live, people to love. So do you. Let's take a break from politics, shall we? Let's rise above it for a little while. There's no limit to what we can do from here. The possibilities are amazing.