Place Your Vote for Kindness

I’ve decided that the 2016 presidential election is here for our [my] growth. If I can love the candidates, I can love anyone.

If I operate from the following basic principles, it starts to become clear why it is so important that I work diligently on my relationship to the whole thing, and work on releasing every single goshdarn thing about it:

1. Your perception of others is directly related to your own level of consciousness. The higher your consciousness, the less negativity you perceive in the world and in others.

2. Your perception of others is 100% projection of the things you like and/or dislike about yourself. All judgments of others are really judgments of yourself.

3. If you deny and withhold love from others, you are also ultimately denying love to yourself. Love of self and love of others go hand in hand.

If looked at objectively, the candidates are the ones who are clearly in need of the most love. No matter who is elected president, I hereby do declare that I will do my damnedest to forgive every single trait that triggers me, and to do everything in my power to truly love them. Loving someone doesn’t mean agreeing with their choices. We only learn from our parents and teachers that love is withheld from us for behaving in ways that they don’t like, and we learn that love is conditional. Neither candidate behaves in ways that I prefer, but hating them and withholding love from them will not change anything.

Love, on the other hand, is transformational. It is transformational in ways that cannot even be understood. Love supports. Love softens. Love opens up gateways for growth and change. The power of love cannot be underestimated. I have often asked myself, “If _________ gets elected, what will I do?” Now I know. I will love them. I know that sounds cheesy, but the concept brings a real sense of peace. They are how they are because of the experiences they have had, and I have absolutely no control over it. If there is any hope for them to learn and to grow and become more presidential, we have to provide them an environment in which to do so. Love has time and time again proven to facilitate growth in all areas of life, and denying love to anyone who is elected is the sure way for our country to fail.

If the leader elected doesn’t exhibit the qualities of compassion and strength that we so admire, and we cannot fault them for their shortcomings, there is only one other possible option. The population must lead by example, regardless of the face that sits in the oval office. That is how we make America TRULY great again.

You would hope that the system would allow us to elect a truly brilliant leader for our country, but if it just doesn’t seem to be working out that way, despite all intentions to the contrary, we must become those traits that we would ideally like to elect. Personal responsibility, reason, kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, courage, nobility, grace, transparency, authenticity. That is where true strength comes from. We admire leaders with these qualities because they inspire it in ourselves. Perhaps we need to take responsibility for our own state of being. It is quite likely that we may not have the luxury of a leader who uplifts and dignifies. Therefore, we must seek it within ourselves.

This level of strength is contagious. The more people who choose to “be the change they would like to see in the world”, the more it is likely to be chosen by others. Every choice made by every individual makes an imprint on the collective belief systems of our country, and of our world. Even if you feel like “your vote doesn’t count”, your inner state certainly counts, and it counts a thousand fold more than one measly vote in an election. Think of it this way, with each kind thought, you are placing a vote for kindness. With each hateful thought, you are placing a vote for hatred. The work you do on yourself around the emotions that come up about this election is of paramount importance. It will change your personal experience of the world, and ripple out into the world in ways you cannot begin to anticipate.

So what is it that you want in a president? Be that.

Love,

- Emilia Ann