We have all been waiting with bated breath for this election to finally be over so we can return to our non-political Facebook posts. But now that it is over, things are worse, and I am sure they will only continue to get worse. The amount of hatred this country has is terrifying. The only thing hatred does is turn people against one another, and that is the last thing this country needs. We are supposed to be united — if for no other reason than because it’s in the name of our country and our identity.

Do not be ashamed of whoever you voted for. Do not make anyone else ashamed for whoever they voted for. This was an impossible decision, one where we had to ignore the darkest aspects of human nature in order to bring ourselves to vote for either candidate. Hatred and lies are the foundations for disaster, and we all knew going into this that disaster was where we were headed.

Do not believe those who made the decision made it because they agreed with everything their candidate said — most people voted for what they believed was the lesser of two evils. Emphasis on what they believe. Just like you voted for what you believed.

To those who are angry and hateful towards those who supported the winner — stop. The reason you don’t like this man is because he is so full of hate — do not respond to that hate with your own hate. It only makes things worse. If you respond to this way, are you any better than he is?

I have seen many people saying they did not know this nation was made up of so many racist, sexist, hateful people. But the election of a hateful man does not make those who voted for him hateful, just as much as supporting a liar does not make the voters liars.

As for the state of this country, my professor said it best. In not so many words, she said that this is a wound that has been reopened. This is a wound that has festered in our country for a very long time. It is not a new wound, it is not a bigger wound — it has just finally opened, and perhaps now we can clean the nasty pus that has collected and prevented us from healing.

In response to the results, there has been a lot of talk about leaving the country. At first, it was all jokes, but now it has become a serious concern. If you have any sense of pride for your country or love for your proverbial neighbors, you will stay and fix this mess we made for ourselves.

Don’t tell me you didn’t make this mess — it has been a mess in the making for generations. And we all have an obligation to fix it. If you care enough to cry about the state of our country, you care enough to stay and see this through to the end. Despair is all I have heard from the mouths of everyone I have seen after election day. But the moment you give up is the moment you lose the right to complain.

It’s much like the reason people vote — you vote so that you can have a say in how this country is led. If you give up and give into whatever despair you have, you are giving up the right to complain and ask for change. Take charge and own your actions. Own this country, own its morals, own your beliefs.

I am no political expert, but I know a thing or two about being human, and I believe we can change this country from the inside. By convincing people to stop hating, perhaps the government can follow in the change. There will always be evils in this world, but if we ignore those evils, they will only get bigger. It is a good thing this is happening — if you have ever cleaned out your bedroom, you know that things get worse before they get better. Things will be messy for a while, but at least now we are aware of the mess, and now we can try to clean it up.

Perhaps, instead of the president changing the country, the country can change the president.