This one goes out to all of the people upset by the election results.
People spend a lot of time worrying and complaining about the person in the White House. How many hours do you think the average person spends complaining about the President? 1 hour a week? 5 hours a week? I’m going to let you in on a little secret: the President doesn’t matter. You do.
From the President’s Point of View
It seems that every day someone is complaining about the person in Oval Office. On social media, thousands of people every minute are spouting garbage. And for what? What does complaining on the internet do for anyone? The President will never read your message. Even if he did, he doesn’t care. Your opinions mean nothing to him.
Think of it from the President’s point of view. After several years of rigorous campaigning, your goal of being elected finally comes to fruition. You did it! All of that hard work pays off. Not to mention, you accomplished this goal with the approval of the people. The majority of people decided that you were the best candidate.
When all of the excitement is finished, you check your Twitter page. What do you see? Hundreds, thousands, of mentions flood your timeline and DMs. Half of these are supportive and glad you were elected.
The other half? Hateful, divisive, and despicable messages. More than a few of these are threats on your life. All because you got elected in a system driven by the choices of the people. These are the people you are supposed to lead.
Politicians know this, and they’re prepared for it. They receive death threats daily, and it doesn’t bother them one bit. In other words, they don’t care about what you think. They are going to do their jobs regardless.
Save Your Breath
People only have a finite amount of time and energy available. Why would you waste a minute of it complaining about the President. It won’t solve anything. In fact, the only person you are hurting is yourself.
The President is unaffected by your efforts. The only person affected by it is you. By putting time and energy into trashing the President, you are making a deliberate choice to invest in a fruitless venture. If you can’t win, why would you even play the game?
It doesn’t do any good to be angry. Focusing your time and energy into the actions and opinions of someone else only trains your mind to be the victim. It’s almost become trendy now to be victimized. People flaunt it and strive for it nowadays.
Being a Victim Sucks
Anyone who has actually been victimized in the past will attest that being a victim sucks. Being a victim means being hurt by another person. Being a victim means, for however long, you had no power to make a choice.
Nobody actually wants to be hurt, they only want to make it seem that way. In their mind, people will then flock towards them with attention and reparations. This mindset gives them an air of importance, but it is self-defeating.
By subscribing to this philosophy, you put your self-worth in the hands of your “offender.” What if no one comes to your aid? Then you’re just stuck wallowing in your misery.
Why would somebody want to feel this way?
I suspect its because it makes their failures more bearable. If you claim to be a victim, you’re playing with house money. If you win, then you can say you beat the odds and stuck it to the man. If you lose, no harm done. The “system” was rigged against you. You can say that you had no chance of winning in the first place.
People are so averse to the idea of being blamed for failures that they delegate their lives to others. People who claim to be victimized by another person’s words or actions are giving up their lives to that person–a person whom you do not respect. Why would you put your life into the hands of someone you don’t respect?
A Better Way
By taking the victim mentality, you are resigned to losing. You roll over and play dead. Instead of blaming people around you and looking for an excuse, take responsibility for your life. No one can control your destiny more than you can. Give yourself the power.
If you start thinking this way, the whole world changes. And why wouldn’t you think this way? If you play the victim and fail, the end result is failure. If you take control of your life and fail, the end result is the same. The difference is how you feel about it.
If you play the victim and fail, you feel cheated. If you accept the responsibility of your life and fail, you feel energized. Energized to do something about it. When you take control of your life, there is nothing you won’t do to succeed.
We only assign blame to make ourselves feel better. It does nothing to affect the results. Blame is just a construct. The result is what matters. When you give yourself the power to control your own life, you give yourself a chance to succeed.
Conclusion
There are actual victims in this world: people who are actually affected by the actions of the President and other powerful people. I recognize that, and I feel for you. This article is not meant to diminish the struggles of the downtrodden.
I’m not advocating that people don’t vote either. Voting in an election is the foundation of democracy. I encourage everyone to do their research on each candidate and ballot measure, and then voice their opinions.
But when the election is decided, do yourself a favor and just let it go. There’s nothing you can do about the outcome now. Accept it, and make it work for you.
Think about who is controlling your life. If it’s not you, find a way to make it you. Give a gift to yourself. Give yourself the power to write your own destiny.
It doesn’t matter who sits in the White House. They have little effect on your life. Your thoughts and actions are a much bigger factor. Control what you can, ignore the rest.
Thanks for reading!
Featured photo source: Suzy Brooks on Unsplash
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