While the votes for President of the United States are still being counted, social media is inundated with all manner of thoughts:

What the outcome will be and what it will mean for the future of our country?

These are some thoughts that have crossed my mind this week.

Regardless of who wins, life will go on. That’s not to say that we should give up on what we believe, but maybe we could accept the situation and do what we can to make our lives and the people’s lives around us better.

Go and volunteer at an organization that you support. 

Quite often, the act of volunteering makes us feel better and gives so much to the people who need our help. 

These don’t have to be large organizations, like the Red Cross. It could be something as simple as going to a local school and helping them with things that need to be done. There are food delivery organizations that take food to the older population who don’t leave the house much. 

We can volunteer at soup kitchens and other organizations that help support the homeless.

Spend more time with family and friends, even if it is physically distant. 

Check in on the people we care about, because many people may be hurting. Not just because of the election, but because they may have lost someone they cared about. They may be out of a job and struggling to find work and pay their bills. Being physically distant can also mean people have been socially distant, which can affect mental health.

A friend of mine mentioned that she is writing letters to her grandmother’s husband since he doesn’t use technology much and they live in different states. This benefits them both because he feels loved and thought of, while she is in communication with him to know if anything is wrong.

I know a lot of people who will visit their loved ones on their front lawn or in a park where they can be much farther apart than in their living room. This allows for some of the more at-risk population to still be able to visit with loved ones without having to worry so much about getting COVID-19.

Donate money to organizations that could use it.

If the previous two options are a little stressful right now because of COVID-19, this is a helpful task to do. 

Another friend of mine makes enough money to live off of, so she donated her stimulus check to a charity of her choosing.  These organizations can range from your local humane society, to Silver Key, to The Freedom Fund.

Be kind to people.

Even if all these things seem like a little too much right now, for whatever reason, maybe we could simply make people smile. 

Tell the clerk checking us out “thank you” and “have a great day” or that we appreciate them and the work they do.  

Let the other person go first if we come to a stop sign together at an intersection.  

Let the person in who is trying to get into our lane. 

Try to be patient with people. 

While we are waiting in line, maybe even strike up a conversation with someone.  

Offer to help our neighbors with something like yard work or shoveling snow when the time comes.

Try to see the other side of things.

We all come from different walks of life. We have all experienced many wonderful and difficult things. 

Listen to people’s stories.  

It will be all of these things—not who they voted for—that will really tell us what type of person they are.

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