It takes one to know one, goes the familiar saying. Applying that to the current political situation, I know the stress lots of people are under right now, because I'm feeling really stressed myself.
Today I mentioned in my Tai Chi class that I was going to try to use the Tai Chi principle of relaxed softness on November 5, election day, because I'm going to need all the help I can get in staying calm as the votes are counted and announced.
That led to an interesting mid-class discussion among the half dozen or so students in attendance. It turned out that everybody was feeling pretty much the same way.
We were all supporters of Harris. But given that each of the three election prediction models that I follow -- Nate Silver's Silver Bulletin (you can't see the actual forecast without subscribing to Silver, which I do), FiveThirtyEight, and the Economist -- are basically showing a 50-50 race, both Harris and Trump supporters have good reasons to be nervous.
So here's some tips from my own frazzled brain about how to preserve your sanity as much as possible in the six days until November 5.
(1) Ponder the wisdom of the lyrics to the Doris Day song from the 1950s, Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be). Here's a sample:
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, "What will I be?"
"Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?"
Here's what she said to me
"Que será, será
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que será, será
What will be, will be"
(2) In line with the above, read a recent article in The Atlantic by Brian Klaas, "The Truth About Polling: We Don't Know What We Think We Know About How Americans Will Vote." If you're worried about how your favored candidate is faring in the polls, Klaas shows why that worry is misplaced, since polls are pretty bad at capturing what is going to happen in an election.
Here's how the article starts out.
Well, it’s that time again: Millions of Americans are stress-eating while clicking “Refresh” on 538’s presidential forecast, hoping beyond hope that the little red or blue line will have made a tiny tick upward. Some may be clutching themselves in the fetal position, chanting under their breath: “There’s a good new poll out of Pennsylvania.”
The stakes of this election are sky-high, and its outcome is not knowable in advance—a combination that most of us find deeply discomfiting. People crave certainty, and there’s just one place to look for it: in the data. Earlier humans might have turned to oracles or soothsayers; we have Nate Silver. But the truth is that polling—and the models that rely primarily on polling to forecast the election result—cannot confidently predict what will happen on November 5.
(3) Keep in mind that in the lifetime of geezers like me (I'm 76), the criteria for what it means to be a good citizen has changed a lot, and not necessarily for the better. When I was in high school, 1962-66, I recall being taught that a good citizen's main duty was to vote.
If you've done that, or plan to do that, congratulations, you're a good citizen. Now relax and wait for your vote and that of your fellow Americans to be counted.
Unless you live in a swing state -- Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada -- there's little you can do at this point to encourage other people who share your political view to vote.
And despite the large number of texts and emails I've gotten every day for many weeks, asking me to send more money to the Harris campaign (I've already donated twice), I feel fine ignoring those pleas. I haven't read a single one, since the email subject lines alone tell me what B.S. they are. For example, from today's emails: Lots and lots of people are donating today, and now they are hoping you'll do the same.
No they aren't. Most of them are hoping they will never get another donation request from the Harris campaign (I'm sure Trump supporters feel the same way). Plus, it's too late for more money to make a difference.
Of course, I'm expecting that after November 5, I'm going to get many more texts and emails asking me to contribute so the Harris campaign can defend against Trump's attempt to overturn the results -- assuming Harris is victorious.
(4) No matter the outcome of the election, know that your life will go on pretty much as it always has. You'll have the same family, the same friends, the same co-workers, the same acquaintances. You'll eat the same food, exercise in the same way, go to the same places. The main difference is that once the outcome is known, you won't be worrying about that any more, since it will be a fact rather than an anxiety.
Sure, new worries will pop up. You'll fret over how the newly elected president is doing, whether or not you voted for him/her. That's the nature of our minds. Instead of saying "I think, therefore I am," Descartes could have said, "I worry, therefore I am."
But in line with the Two Arrows adage of Buddhism, when you worry, try not to worry about your worrying.
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