Change

“I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.”

David Sedaris, one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers

Yesterday America underwent a change in administrations. The day was calmer and smoother than I expected, though about as I hoped. I scheduled an important phone call for the afternoon that in the act of scheduling I was thinking, “there is a better than 25% chance I will want to reschedule this or need to do some serious meditation to get my head right prior.”

But the change of administration happened in a traditional ceremony. People seemed happy; a leader spoke about a brighter future and acknowledged that the task list to get there will be a monumental lift. I also felt President Biden did a reasonable job of attempting to reach out to all Americans.

However, we cannot forget what the past four years have taught us. There is a large percentage of Americans who are disenfranchised with the attempts of our government to do their job. And who can fault these tired Americans when what is frequently seen is a machine that is:

• Fueled by money first, will of people second
• Lies are tolerated, sometimes rewarded
• Bickering between parties is the norm, bipartisanship the exception
• One branch of government literally can’t do a primary part of their job by passing a budget, let alone balance it (reference this article)

So, who am I talking about in the quote that opened this post? It must be to all of us. We need to learn how to talk to someone with opposing views. Or start by simply listening. We need to not accept leadership who lies and fails at their job. We need to demand a higher standard from our government, and ourselves. And it would be nice if our elected leaders could lead by example.

And we need to have hope. Hope is what allows us to believe a more perfect world is possible. Hope moves us out of fear of the unknown. Hope gives us the courage to make the changes needed to build a better future.

We, the people are capable of change if we open ourselves up.