What happens when we wake up?

No election is the end of the world until...well, the world actually ends. If we're all still alive tomorrow, we should all do our very best to make sure everyone around us also stays alive through the next day too. And the next day. And the next. The most important election is the next one, in the sense that we no longer have control over the past, but we do have control over the future. 

Don’t get me wrong. This election has been incredibly stressful on a lot of levels for many people, and I don’t want to minimize the very real mental and emotional toll it has taken, and may yet take. I also don’t want to minimize the very real physical consequences that will occur once it is over. No matter what happens, we will have a president of the United States who many people in the country vehemently oppose. (And if you have a hard time believing that, try getting outside of your own echo chamber for a little bit and recognize that there are real people with real problems who support both candidates.) And both candidates will have a tangible impact on individual lives, the country, and even the world. I do recognize that.

I also recognize that there may be real danger from those who are unable to accept whoever wins (on both sides), and I’d like to remind us all that however we cast our vote, and however anyone else cast theirs, it’s now time for us to roll up our sleeves and make the best of the outcome, whatever it may be.