I am disgusted with America. And it’s not because of who is president. I am disgusted because I have never seen an outpouring of hate like the one I have witnessed this week. I can understand the bitterness. I can understand the contempt you have towards our nation’s new leader. What I cannot understand is the idea that fighting hate with hate will move us forward.
Before you discredit me because I am privileged, allow me to say that I wholeheartedly empathize with you. I understand how upsetting this election was. But I can’t rationalize the utter disrespect to our fellow Americans, who we are attacking based on their viewpoints. I don’t agree with Trump, but I can’t change that he is in office.
We can’t change who is our president, but we can change the way we react to it and how we treat others. Here are a few things that no president can take away from us:
Loving
A president will not stop you from experiencing love in whichever way you choose. Love flows from the heart. Romantic or platonic: hug someone. Tell them you care. Love them despite living in a world full of hate.
How you treat others
Regardless of the hate, you have witnessed by our leaders, you are not required or encouraged to behave that way. You have the choice each and every day to decide how you treat others.
Having an opinion
The right to your mind is protected. Your inner thoughts cannot be taken away from you, regardless of the law.
Being tolerant
Because the right to having an opinion is extended to everyone, the beauty of this is that we are free to think independently. Understanding and empathizing with others is a choice you make when you encounter someone who is exercising their freedom of opinion in a different way. Our leader does not have to be tolerant for us to do so.
Acting with kindness
Compliment others. Point out their strengths. Share lunch with someone who doesn’t have the means to provide their own. Listen to someone who needs a friend. Respect your significant other’s body. Choose to vigilantly seek the good in others when you feel you can’t find it.
I hope that those of you mourning America today don’t take this as me minimizing the defeat some of us are facing. Rather, I am challenging you to fight hate with love, and change the country from the inside out. America is not the president. America is each and every one of us, and as many have said: Love trumps hate.
