My absentee ballot came in the mail the other day. It sat on my desk burning holes in my head and making me stressed beyond belief. When I finally broke it open, I filled out each square as best as I could—all except one: the box for President. I let it sit there even longer while I struggled and struggled some more to decide what the right vote could possibly be.
This has been an impossible election season, and I feel like my head is going to explode. Any time I turn on the TV, or open up Facebook, or even just listen to the conversations around me, it seems like there are a million and one different opinions on what the right vote is.
But that's the problem: there is no right vote. Ultimately, you have to make the decision for yourself as to who you're going to pick and why you picked them. People will pick different candidates for the same reason. People will pick the same candidate for different reasons. People will pick a third-party candidate or even no candidate for a thousand other reasons. And still, there is no right vote.
In an election as convoluted as this one, I'm trying to settle on this one point. Because I feel like I could have chosen a different option on that ballot ten different times and justified each one. I'm so tired of being stressed and worried about who's going to be the next President and feeling the weight of the voting responsibility on my shoulders for the first time. I feel like no matter what choice I make, I'm going to feel guilty about that choice.
So here's what I'm going to do instead.
I'm going to be grateful that there is an election to be stressed about. I'm going to be grateful that we get to choose who leads our country in a democratic process. I'm going to be grateful that no matter who wins or how half of our country feels about it, the next President will come into office safely and without violence. I'm going to be grateful that I'm not the one who has to run this country. And most of all, I'm going to be grateful that God is still in control in spite of anything that happens.
Stop beating yourself up over the election. Take the time to make a responsible decision for yourself, and be okay with that decision. Don't stop praying. Do what you can in the day-to-day of your life, with the people you can affect. While a leader is certainly important and influential, the President cannot fix everything. So stop stressing so much about the election and start doing what you can to make a difference now.
Because just like your one vote is up to you, making positive change is up to you too.
