With the recent election of President Trump, the United States is becoming divided. Some people love Trump and the things he has been doing for the country, while others hate his “progress.” Some are caught up in the middle of everything, going to marches and protesting, while others are sitting back and watching it all happen. No matter what your political stance is, think about this:

1. Nobody’s perfect.

This includes President Trump. The media is especially great at highlighting people’s mistakes, but I make mistakes all the time and they don’t show up on everyone’s Facebook page. Don’t expect perfection from imperfect people.

2. People will never agree.

Everyone has unique life experiences that can influence political beliefs. Everyone’s experiences are different, so everyone’s opinions are also different. It’s easy to talk to people that agree with you on a certain issue, but a real test of character is how you talk to people that disagree with you.

3. Respecting people is important.

Yes, it is important to respect authority. But it is equally as important to respect everyone else. We are all human. Forget political stance, wealth, race, age, and religion, and we all are the same imperfect people going through the same problems on the same planet at the same time. When people decide to compare themselves to others, they forget that we are all equally flawed. When we decide that we are better than someone else, we disrespect them and their beliefs. If we want something to change, disrespect (AKA telling people that their beliefs are wrong) is not the way to go.

4. Fact checking is also important.

The media lies about more than we realize. Watch out when people post biased news articles and don’t fall into the trap of believing everything you read online. People get so upset about Trump’s new policies and often aren’t reading the full truth about what is happening. People that support Trump’s policies might not be reading the full truth, either. Fact check both sides of the story and then form your opinion; don’t assume that someone else’s opinion is the fact.

5.The United States will always be changing.

In fact, we are the change. We may think that a new president or new government officials are the cause of change, but it’s really our response that causes the change. The government is changing because the people want it to change, which is why we have elections. Some people might like the current or old policies and don’t want change, but change is unavoidable in a nation where a new generation of voters is voting. Maybe it’s time to accept (but maybe not always agree with) change in a changing world.

In the end, our political opinions are going to be different. People will continuously disagree with us. But let's agree to disagree. We can express our opinions without shattering the opinions of others. When the United States becomes united, it won't happen because we all decided to agree. It will happen when we decide to use our differences to strengthen the backbone of the country.