Undying Optimism - Election 2016

Okay, so what has culminated in a long and tiring election season? I have to say, after it's all said and done, and I think most of us are relieved that it's all said and done, I have to say one thing that stands out to me is just how proud I am to be an American. Make no mistake of it, this election reflected a popular revolt. This is a populist revolt. And in any other nation in the world, it would not have gone like this. There were no bullets fired, there's no rioting, there's no cities burning down. The way that our people express their opinions is they go to the polls and they vote. And for an entire group of people that for far too long have felt ignored and left behind, some of whom were labeled the under educated, they're human beings. They trying to make a living, raise their kids, working two or three jobs and they felt ignored by a system. And they get to express their opinions by voting. I'm so proud of that. And then the next day, whether your candidate won or your candidate lost, there's no riots, there's no cities burning to the ground. In England, when they had Brexit, the leaders gloated. In France, sometimes when things go the wrong way, they riot. We are not doing that. And those are other democracies. I am so proud to be an American. Now we still have to go back and we still have to take some accountability for this insane election cycle that we had. I believe we get the leaders we deserve. I think they are a mirror reflection of us. And it's not just them who are divided and divisive and narcissistic and want to put their self interest ahead of the greater good, who are short termists. That's us. That's how we're running our businesses. We are short termists. We're the narcissists. We're the divisive ones. We're the ones who aren't listening. I think we need to be the leaders we wish we had. We have to practice good leadership. We can't all be victims of a system. We have to be the leaders we wish we had. We have to be more inclusive. We have to try and understand everyone's fears and insecurities, not just one group or another. If someone expresses anger instead of reacting to the symptoms, we have to say, are you okay? Tell me what you're feeling. We need to be the ones who need to improve our listening skills. And I think this election proves it. Everybody was talking at each other and nobody was trying to understand the stresses and strains of their life and why they chose the candidate they chose. I'm still proud to be an American. And we have a tradition in America that the winner is gracious and the loser concedes graciously as well. And we've done that. We have a tradition in America that whether your candidate won or your candidate lost, we band together as Americans and we say, I will support our president until our president gives me a reason not to. Yes, it was an embarrassing, embarrassing election regardless of who won. And yes, there are things that we are all embarrassed and ashamed of, but that's it. This is the system we have, and this is the president we have. And we must support our president. Whether he's your candidate or not. Whether he's my candidate or not. We are American. We are optimists. This is the reason I choose to live in America. I don't want to move to Canada. I came here from another place. I chose to become a citizen. Why? Because I love American optimism. We can withstand everything and we can grow together. Let us prove to our candidates. Let us prove to future candidates what leadership looks like. Let us be the example and stop demanding that they be the sole example. Let us show them how we take care of each other, how we listen, how we're inclusive of those with whom we disagree. It makes for better companies, it makes for better families, it makes for better schools, it makes for better churches, it makes for better communities.

I love this country. I love that the system worked. I love that there's no violence in the streets and we will have a peaceful transfer of power for the 45th time. That's amazing. And I think with your candidate won or your candidate lost, we have to remember that this is our system and it works. So let us stand together. Let us be the leaders we wish we had. Let us work hard ourselves to prove and to make sure that future elections are civilized and open minded and inclusive. And there's listening. That's what I really hope, that the future looks nothing like what we just went through. We're all exhausted.