The Voter's (Survival) Guide
A personal note from me, and a science-backed guide for surviving election stress and anxiety
This is a personal note from me to you about our collective mental well-being in the face of war and strife around the world and extreme polarization and political ugliness in the US and elsewhere. It can seem like everyone is at each others throats, and in the US, the political vitriol has only ratcheted up on the eve of the election.
But the loudest voices do not represent the majority of us.
One small sign that we might be more alike and aligned than we think: I have seen far fewer political signs in our neighbor’s yards this cycle than before the 2020 election. I don’t know why, and I can’t say if the change is widespread, but I have a hunch what’s going on: After all the polarization that’s driven neighbors, family and friends apart the past four years, a lot of people—the silent majority—just want to get along. They don’t want to antagonize their neighbors. They don’t feel the need to shout their beliefs angrily. They can vote.
The loudest voices do not represent the majority of us. And I hold fast to this belief: The softest, most thoughtful voices are, in the end, the most powerful.
We can vote differently, but we don’t have to fight about it. We can disagree, and get along. We can argue, then move on.
Yes, OK, I know, we are arguing like never before. Well, not never. My daughter sent this quote to me, and I want to share it with the world:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
—Abraham Lincoln
In that spirit, I created a Voter’s (Survival) Guide (this is a “friend link” to a Medium story that bypasses the paywall). It has no candidates in it, no ballot initiatives. No politics whatsoever. It’s a guide for dealing with stress and anxiety caused by the election and politics more broadly, no matter what your politics might be.
The guide is loaded with science-backed strategies, and this delightful new finding:
People dealing with prolonged pandemic stress took a placebo, and they were told it was a placebo, a pill that would have no effect on their stress. Two weeks later, they reported “a significant decrease in stress, anxiety and depression” compared to a control group that didn’t take any pill.
Imagine if you put your faith into an actual stress-reduction technique that’s known to work. So here you go:
Whether you’re in America or anywhere in the world where there is political tension and outright ugliness, I wish you a dose of science-backed inner calm. After all, amid chaos, you can choose calm. And here is why I know this:
Stress does not happen to us. Stress is our reaction to what happens. Anxiety, which has a similar detrimental effect on the mind and body, is our reaction to what we worry might happen. We have far more control than we realize over how bad stuff effect us.
Oh, and don’t forget to vote. That’s something you can control.
Sincerely
Rob
