I hate fighting. I hate it so much. Whenever I even think that someone is mad at me, my heart starts racing and I immediately need to know what I did wrong. More times than not, no one is mad at me and I'm just being crazy. I don't feel as much anxiety when I'm not involved in the fight but it's definitely still there. Naturally, I try to avoid conflict as much as possible. That is not to say that my life is drama free because I can assure you that it is not. I am a very opinionated person and I am usually not afraid to express those opinions, which can bring conflict into my life. Usually though, those situations are resolved quickly without an argument. But unless I locked myself in a cave, I couldn't escape what happened in the days that followed last Tuesday.
Last week, after the results of the 2016 Presidential Election were announced, I watched my social media feeds explode with people arguing about the outcome. I watched as people unfriended others on Facebook. I saw people express their own sadness in the outcome of the election and family members comment on their statuses telling them that they shouldn't be feeling those emotions. I watch people celebrate the news and have others comment on their status telling them that they should be ashamed. I could barely look but I also couldn't look away. I have an app that tracks how much I use my phone and I can tell you that I am not proud at how much more I used my phone on those days.
Now, I am not someone who believes in sharing their own personal political beliefs online. I still have respect for everyone who does, though, and I totally believe in standing up for yourself and your beliefs. I just don't like to share mine online. If you ever see me in person, I would be more than happy to discuss the election with you. But that means that this article will not have a political standpoint. I won't address either candidate or tell you who I voted for. Don't worry, this article does have a point; keep reading.
What I think a lot of people don't think enough about is how lucky we are to vote. This year, I turned 18 and voted for the first time. I had and took the opportunity to aid in the decision of who leads our country. There are so many other 18-year-olds around the world who didn't get to vote this year, not because they chose not to, but because they weren't allowed too. It feels amazing to live in a country where I theoretically could change the outcome of an election. I know that there are teenagers around the world who will never get that chance.
I think Conan O'Brien said it best. On his show, "Conan," he shared some of his thoughts about the results of the election. The one quote that stuck out to me was:
"Everybody should feel grateful that we get to vote, and if we don’t get our way, we have the chance to try again."
I think that it is an amazing way to think about the results of the election if it didn't go your way. This election will go down in history and I am just proud to have voted in it.
