[Lekooks] After the Election: Four Ways We Can Respond

[Lynne Smith]

Hi Friends- I found Hanson's advice helpful, and thought you might too.
He's a psychologist and best-selling author who leans into Buddhist
practices.
I've never felt so many emotions in such a short time- shock, disbelief,
grief & loss, anger and rage, and a profound sadness with the state of our
country.
I know I'll rally and get back on the saddle and keep the light burning in
any ways I can, especially for the next generations.
But for now, I just want to express my gratitude for all of you, for your
spirit and your committment to making our country and world more peaceful,
sustainable, and just.
Thanks much, Lynne




*Introduction*


51.7% of American voters have reelected Donald Trump. Many are celebrating
his victory. And many – including me – are not. We can accept the result of
an election, while worrying about its consequences. If that’s how you feel,
here’s a short summary of some reflections and suggestions.

(By the way, you might be celebrating Trump’s victory – and still have
compassion for people who are not. If so, what you’ll find here could be
useful for them. Otherwise, no need to read further.)
*Strengthen Your Heart*


When the bottom falls out, turn to the heart.


For starters, be kind to *yourself*. Let yourself feel what you’re feeling,
slow down, and take your time. Be loyal to you. Get on your own side. Get a
sense of your own fundamental goodness, the deep sweet nature in your core.


Protect your heart. Pull your attention away from toxic influences. Try not
to ruminate. As the Buddha taught long ago: all kinds of painful thoughts
and feelings can pass through awareness, but we don’t have to let them
invade the mind and remain.


Also of course, try to keep your heart open, love your friends and family,
and love our big beautiful precious world. Love heals and feeds us whether
it is flowing in or out. With others who are draining or upsetting, you can
have compassion for them while stepping back or standing up for yourself.


We are all wounded. If you are like me, people have let you down or
directly attacked you. We make mistakes and feel regret and remorse. We’ve
had losses, such as doors closing, loved ones dying, and dashed hopes for a
better future. We can be honest about our wounds . . . . and feel them
along with love. *Carry your wounds into love*. Then they soften and are
more bearable, and we open out into a field of love.
*See Clearly*


Recognize misinformation and lies. It’s easy to get basic factual
information from Wikipedia, university websites, and credible news
organizations that correct their errors.


Recognize facts that are relevant to you. Close at hand, how are people
doing who you care about? How are *you* doing, really? Your health?
Finances? Well-being?


Further afield, are actual harms heading your way? As Maya Angelou has
said, when people show you who they are, believe them. The first time.


I and many others have underestimated the movement toward authoritarianism
in America, and overestimated the guardrails against that. Let’s not make
those mistakes any longer. It’s a plain fact, not alarmism, that America is
already several steps down the well-worn path historically toward tyranny.


We don’t know their timing and shape, but we do know that storms are coming.


*Do What You Can*


Nkosi Johnson
<https://news.rickhanson.net/lt.php?x=3DZy~GE6VXiaDa4t-d1GhBJt~qJRjwQfjPsyXaXMIXHL788ryUy.0ORr13Bzj_H1jfYzbHfLJnWf>
was born with HIV in 1989 and died soon at age 12. He became an advocate
for those with AIDS, and once said essentially:


*Do all that you can with what you’ve been given, in the place where you
are, with the time that you have.*


The more uncertain and potentially threatening the wider world, the more
important it is to invest in yourself and the circle around you. What feeds
you? What protects you? What makes you happy? Boring but true: we get back
what we put in . . . to what we eat, to exercise, and to meditation and
other inner practices.


Also, I remember seeing a YouTube clip of a big grim former Special Forces
expert on survival who was asked, “Under the worst conditions, what’s the
most important thing to have?” He replied: “Friends.”



Talk with people. And listen. Know your neighbors, find common ground.
Consider important relationships and what could be repaired or deepened in
them.

Out in the world, pick the causes you care about, and support them. The
petitions you sign or dollars you send may make no discernible difference
for the world, but they will definitely make a difference for you.


*Find Peace*


Throughout history, most people have lived under tough conditions while
still finding their ways to be happy. If they could do it, we can, too.


Know that most things are beyond your control. Try to accept this fact, and
uncertainty, and not always knowing.

What brings you to peace? Neurologically, it helps to raise your gaze, look
out a window, take a bird’s-eye view. Take some breaths, with the
exhalations longer than the inhalations. Tune into the internal sensations
of breathing, which will help to quiet inner chatter.


Look around and see so many things that are unaffected by the political ups
and downs: trees reaching for the sky, birds flying, friends cooking
dinner, good music, laughter, love flowing. Turn toward whatever are
reliable sources of well-being and comfort and wisdom for you: perhaps the
simple taste of a banana, the hug of a friend, the eager look in your dog’s
eyes, the vastness of the night sky, the onward developments of science,
the perennial insights of the great teachers, or the simple rainbow beauty
of an oil sheen in a puddle.


In your mind, there is always the peaceful stability of awareness itself.
To paraphrase Pema Chodron, you are the sky and everything else is just the
weather.


And even deeper is a fundamental stillness in your ground of being. Slow
down, be gentle with yourself, and you can find this quiet between and
beneath all the busy thoughts and feelings and desires. This innate
peacefulness, infused with love, is our true home, a reliable refuge and
source of strength under all conditions, including sometimes an unreliable
and scary world.


Your own practice and efforts will help many others besides yourself.
Rippling out into the world, touching many lives, known and unknown, seen
and unseen.


>From my heart, thank you.


Rick



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