Beginning with the 2011 general elections in Turkey, on every single election night I would turn on CNN Turkey as the votes are started to be counted, feel hopeful at first, then watch nearly the whole Turkish map colored in yellow(color of AKP, the ruling party) as the hours pass, listen to the commentators about what went wrong AGAİN and how the opposition parties are not effective at all, watch the victory speech of president/former prime minister Erdoğan, feel devastated, angry and hopeless, turn off the TV and go to sleep. Whether I could vote or not, I have felt defeated over and over again.

On Tuesday night, I turned on CNN as the votes were started to be counted and witnessed the same sequence of events, but this time in a country not my own where I was in an unfamiliar environment of shock and disbelief instead of apathy and despair. I saw people crying, hugging each other and trying to process what had happened. Although I'm just a momentary resident of this country, I deeply shared their anger and devastation not only because I care about those people who live here but also because I know what it feels like to be defeated to a group of people who you fundamentally disagree with and perhaps think of them as “deplorables".

As a Turkish person who counts the slightest decrease in the votes of the ruling party as a victory-even though it's still the ruling party-I want to say that you have every right to be angry and upset because of the outcome of this election. But you don't have the right to be hopeless at this moment. I have heard many people saying that it is the end of the world and believe me it is not(Welcome to my world). These 4 years will be though for many of you but it will pass. There is not going to be a regime change, there is not going to be a dictatorship. It's the least thing that capitalism would want and the establishment is too strong to allow that, for now. The ones who are elected by democracy will be replaced by democracy.

Although there are many flaws in your democracy, it is not under a threat. Appreciate your right to protest. Appreciate your right to express your thoughts freely. Appreciate the independence of judiciary in your country. Because these are not taken for granted in some countries, like mine. Although you have to fight for a lot of things in this country appreciate the fact that you don't have to fight for your right to criticize the government.

Now, after appreciating these rights, use them and use them effectively. Until the mid-elections where you can use your political power again, there are a lot of things you can do. First of all, if you want to change things you have to get out of your bubble! Doing sit-ins to protest Trump in your liberal university campus will not change anything. Go out and take the streets. Become visible to media, to government and to people who don't share the same views with you. Actively protest every unlawful and unconstitutional policy proposals he makes. Support non-profit organizations like ACLU, NAACP who are ready to fight for people who face the most impact from Trump's discourse and proposed policies.

And remember that Donald Trump isn't your biggest concern. Be concerned with the people who voted for him. Be concerned so that a candidate like him never gets elected again. Presidents go when their term ends but the people who vote for them stay. People started to question the legitimacy of national will this year after events like Brexit, rejection of the peace deal in Colombia and finally the presidential election. Well yeah, it sucks when your life is deeply affected by other people's poor decisions. But it sucks more when this happens over and over again despite how much your government ruins the country in every way, as in Turkey's case- and don't worry Americans you are not there yet.

If you want to make a change in the long term, you should change mentalities and believe me it is the hardest thing. No matter how much you disagree with them or hate them, your votes have equal value so you have no choice but to understand why they voted for him- that doesn't mean that you have to empathize- in order to make a difference in the upcoming elections. To do that again you have to get out of your bubble because engaging only with the people who you share the same political views with will not change anything. You might wonder, “if everyone around me hates Trump how come he got so many votes, where are all these people?" I've asked the same question for a long time because I was also living in a bubble in Turkey, completely isolated from the reality of the country. I would always see the masses in AKP rallies from TV but never actually personally engage with or talk to AKP supporters. Talking with people who you fundamentally disagree with is not easy but labelling them as sexist, racist or uneducated and avoiding conversation doesn't do anything but polarize the society more. If you think that they are the “bad guys" then try to make them the “good guys", no matter how hard it is.

Also, don't just blame the other side. Look at yourself, your own candidate, your own party. Hillary was nearly as unlikable as Trump. Her gender may have a lot to do with it but it is certainly not the only answer. A lot of liberals, women turned their back to her and either voted for a third party or didn't vote at all. People from both sides of the political spectrum wanted change and Democratic party overlooked this anti-establishment anger. If there is one good outcome of this election, it is that Democrats will finally consider fundamental changes in the party. It had to be shattered to be rebuilt. Fortunately, no party stays in power for so long in American politics so with the right candidates and right policies Democrats have a chance to take control of the government in the next election. I don't even remember what it was like in Turkey before AKP and Erdoğan.

So get over your shock, end your grief and take action. You are not even on the edge of despair yet. We can talk about despair when your journalists, elected governors, academicians get arrested for criticizing the government, when you fear even sharing a post on Facebook, when everyone is aware of the government officials' and president's offenses but no one can do anything about it, when there is no law in the country and despite all these when people are continuing to support the ruling party and the president.

Appreciate your power and use it.