Remember Love on Election Day

With great power comes great responsibility.

That's the second time I got to quote Uncle Ben in a week. Sweet.

The last time was because of my Halloween costume. Yeah, I was Spidey.

This time it's in reference to Election Day.

The responsibility that I'm talking about isn't about voting, or not voting, or even voting for the right candidate.

It is about respect for the person who doesn't vote the way that you do. I come from family of people who vote the opposite of me. Does that make me love my sisters less? No. Does it confuse me? Yes, but my sisters have always confused me, so nothing new there. I'm pretty sure I'm a bit more confusing to them.

It doesn't make any sense why the people we love the most could have such opposite political views. It also doesn't matter. They were born with their own soul, their own perspetive, their own experiences, and their own brains and they are allowed to think whatever they want.

Any voter that doesn't go the same way as me could still be my sister, my brother in law, my mother, or my neighbor. They could be the guys I play basketball with, or the person who brings me coffee.

It goes for all of us. Those wackos that vote the other way, they are cooking our food, managing our Facebook pages, letting us in in traffic and taking care of us at the doctor's office.

They are paying us and buying from us and creating the products that we use to keep our businesses running.

I love the democratic process, but the vitriol it has created as one side looks down their noses at the other is an unfortunate byproduct.

Perhaps if we remember that it doesn't have to make sense, we could create more love for one another, rather than the disdain that dominates our discourse.

In fact, I don't think it's supposed to make sense. When I believe wholeheartedly in something, by the very nature of belief, It shouldn't make sense how someone could want to go the other way. That's when I have to remember that they were born with their own soul, their own perspetive, their own experiences, and their own brains and they are allowed to think whatever they want.

I need to keep this in mind for all the voters that go the way I don't. And the candidates. The candidates we don't vote for are pretty much the figureheads for the agenda that is the opposite of ours, right? I believe our compassion and respect needs to extend to them as well.

As wack job as they may seem, I don't think any candidate is out to ruin America. On the contrary, I try to consider all they have to go through to be elected, and hope that they do it for pure reasons, rather than because they just want power. When a candidate runs for office, I hope they are the ones that love the country the most, because they are willing to dedicate their whole beings to having a say in what happens with it.

Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I believe we can bring respect for each other back to the American voting process. During the rest of our day to day lives, we barely even consider what party a person may vote for. We deal with all types of people all the time and don't even give it a thought.

Vote for whoever you want. Let everyone else do the same, and love them anyway.