Election day is a culmination of a conversation with your community. It marks a point in time…a temperature reading of what your communities majority values are…for better or for worse…informed or uninformed.
But it can really rile up your emotions!
It’s a time when our small intentional action to vote has the power to make your values heard and maybe even change the course of your community, state or federal government.
It’s powerful… but it can also feel useless… if you live in a community that does not reflect your values. You may ask, do I care? Is it worth it to care? Why don’t others feel the same way I do? Why don’t they listen to me? Why don’t they care about my values? If my values aren’t reflected in my government, how am I expected to live peacefully?
This intensity of emotion creates anxiety. Sitting with the unknown waiting, hoping until the votes come in, creates anxiety. Talking to people who don’t share your values, creates anxiety. Watching the polls tick by, creates anxiety.
Here are a few ways to manage that anxiety on election day:
Mind: Boundaries- be aware and limit what content and conversations spin you out.
In an election cycle or day the polarizing conversation, the calls to action that are presented as do or die and the constant boundary less flow of information into your mind will activate your nervous system into an agitated state.
You can choose boundaries: limit the volume election information that flows into your mind, through your phone, computer, people you talk to or your TV.
Knowing what is happening at every moment of the election cycle is not going to change reality, but exposing yourself to every minute or hour of updates will change your anxiety levels.
Identify what you can control about an issue that you care about.
If an issue that is important to you does not look like it will be supported in the larger community, identify tangible ways to continue to give voice to your values after election day that express your beliefs beyond the election cycle. Actions like emails to elected officials, donations to organizations who support your cause, attending community meetings, and talking to friends and family influence future voting.
Body: Changing your body state will change your anxiety state
Your body is a powerful support to your mind. Engage it and it will relieve your mind.
Experiment with what is your body's most powerful way to change your anxiety. Music and dance, conversation and company, slow soothing breaths in and out, or a good run, a cold shower or a long warm bath.
All these things help shift your nervous system to a more soothing experience.
Spirit or Wisdom: You are part of a larger whole, a culture and a community. You are not responsible for changing it all at once at this moment in time.
If you have a spiritual practice, lean into it to help soothe your worries when your mind forgets that the micro-moments and details of life do not define your life.
If you are not spiritual, lean into the wisdom of history and the knowledge that great changes in our country have come about through many election cycles, not just one.
Remember that democracy has many checks and balances and that your voice can influence your community in many ways.
At the end of the day, when the results are all too depressing….be sad, mourn the losses…. and then look at your list of day to day ways you can keep supporting your causes. There is also a lot of research that demonstrates that cussing lets off a lot of stress too! So give out a big yell….if it feels good…. and then return to what you can control day to day.