The 2016 election cycle was enough of a nightmare to turn anyone off from politics, I think we can all agree. But don't let it. The politics of our nation are incredibly petty, misguided, corrupt, and annoying, yes, but remaining uninformed or anti-knowledgable of it does nothing more than hurt you and our country.

Becoming willing to listen is the first step in furthering our political system. Politicians can speak for hours upon hours, but it's to no avail if the audience is zoned out, glassy-eyed, and playing Candy Crush Saga on their phones. Even worse, Americans nowadays have a habit of shutting out those across the political aisle from them, as if solely listening to their own ideology and damning any others to Hell is the correct way to live. Not only must we listen to political ideals in general, but we have to be willing to listen to each other.

Once minds are opened and expanded from actually letting information inside, change will begin to happen. It may be small, such as simply be not groaning when an unknown number calls during election season. It may be large, such as volunteering on a politician's campaign for office, driven to enact the change you want to see. Even the slightest adjustment to the anti-politics mindset will put our nation one step back on track.

When you stay uninformed about politics, it may feel carefree, quiet even. Politicians make noise on the television, you turn it off. President Donald Trump's name appears on your Facebook feed, you scroll right past. It's peaceful. You think it's helping your life be at ease. However, when you do this, all you're choosing to do is remain ignorant.

You're letting your life be dictated by people in the District of Columbia, not yourself. You're letting the government get away with things it shouldn't be allowed to get away with, but is because of people remaining in the dark. You're letting politicians you completely disagree with be elected to represent your city, state, country. By choosing to not look politics in the eye, you're blinding yourself from reality to make yourself feel better, then complaining about new laws and presidents after the fact, in a continuous cycle. That's no way to live.

I'm not saying politics has to become your entire life, because it's not for everyone. But the least you need to do is learn to tolerate it. Learn to read an article about an upcoming issue when it comes across your timeline. Give genuine feedback to the volunteers who call your house to poll you. Listen to Democrats if you're a Republican, or vice versa, because contrary to popular belief, you can engage in civil conversation with those you disagree, about things you disagree with, without assuming their beliefs.

When we, as a nation, stop hating politics and instead use it to fuel your fire and ignite change in America's politics, we can grow, improve, and become better informed. When we do that, we take our lives into our own hands. We refuse to let our lives be dictated without our say. That's a country I want to live in.