Presidential Election 2016

Trust - who do ya?

Trust - what makes U a real lover?

Trust - I put this question to ya

-- Prince

I like song lyrics. As a teen, I found a lot of peace in music - partly because of the rhythms, partly because of the words. Some songs brought peace through both and I listened to those songs more.

This year the United States elected a new president. The election campaign started nearly two years ago when the Ted Cruz announced he would be running. This is the longest election season I've experienced. At 46, I've really only seen seven election cycles and I've not paid much attention to them. Until now.

Going into the election, I had thoughts about values. I value my family. By extension, I value my job, the economy, and the environment. I also had thoughts about integrity, common decency, and effectiveness. Looking at the candidates this year, I sought a candidate who shared my values on all these fronts. That candidate did not exist. While one candidate was strong on effectiveness, they were weak on common decency. While another candidate shared my values on the economy, they did not share my values on integrity. These are my values. Yours are likely different. I was faced with presidential choices that left me cold in several ways. In the end I decided that one candidate was the best match for my values and voted my conscience. That candidate did not with the race. Now questions are coming up.

Was I wrong to believe what I believed about my candidate? Was the information I accepted as truth not true? Were the issues that concerned me as important as I thought? Did I waste my time and energy this year getting pulled into a media show which was low on information and high on visceral content?

This is a question of trust. Do I trust myself to spend time on things that really matter? Do I trust myself to hold fast to my beliefs without being blinded by them? Do I trust the people around me to provide valid and relevant information? Do I trust that the decisions I make will continue to provide the lifestyle I've become accustomed to?

As of today - a mere 5 days after the election - I don't have strong trust on many of those fronts.

I learned something this election year about handling the bad and the good in life. It is often hard to remove the bad. It is easier to displace the bad with good. For example, when I find myself eating too much sugar, I eat a pice of fruit.

To help me rebuild trust in those areas I mentioned, I plan to start simply. I plan to spend more of my time doing things that rebuild trust and less time doing things that erode it. I will spend more time building and sharing my talents so I'm clear on my strengths.

Music continues to be a source of peace for me. I played my guitar more this year than I have for decades. I even learned a few new songs.

Adding more peace and reason to my life will go a long way to displacing the loss of trust.