This week will have a different structure to it than the norm. Partly because I am tired as hell. Another reason is I do not really have questions related to what I am going to address and that this week’s post may be shorter than to prior weeks.

VOTE!

This week end’s the Oregon Primaries for our lovely state and I am proud to say that I did my part and voted!

Some of you out there may have the view that their vote does not count, or that their voice is never heard. Your voice can be heard when you vote in the right people. If you do not vote and others follow suit that have your same views and there is a candidate that has the same values…that candidate will have a much less likely chance of winning because they will no longer have the votes that you and others decided not to cast.

VOTE!

I would rather see a candidate that I did not vote for, win by a close margin than by that of a large one.

I am not the most knowledgeable or involved when it comes to all the facets of politics. I do not plan on becoming a politician either. I do feel that I am involved enough to make an educated decision about who I cast my votes for.

VOTE!

Yes I know that the system is flawed…it was also written by flawed people. The only way to correct this, is by voting in those who we as individuals feel could fight to make our voice heard, who have the values that we do and that could do a job at making our country as good as it can be and maybe even better.

I take my time in many instances to read about each candidate. I want to make an informed decision and vote for who I feel fits my values, not always do my votes align with my parents, and that is because I know myself, I know my values and what I want to see happen in our world. Voting in candidates that fight for what I want to see happen, increase the likelihood of actually seeing change.

VOTE!

As you can tell I can be passionate about this. I will reiterate that I am not the most politically involved/educated individual. I know that and am not ashamed of it. Nobody is perfect, not even our politicians. I do the best that I can with my knowledge when I vote. Everyone can, and should, do the same if they are able to legally do so.

I know not every state has the same timeline as Oregon does, but I will tell you now, when the time comes for you to vote, regardless of the level, local state or national…vote the hell out it! Encourage your friends to do it. Make your voice heard by voting in the candidates that you feel are the best for you.

VOTE!

At the end of the day, you still have your friends, your family, regardless of who they voted for…you probably have a lot more in common than you think. I do no really talk politics with my friends…or even my family for that matter. We do talk about the values and policies that are in place and other related things. But who we voted for…not often a topic.

Knowing this, I have found, can cause a lot of rifts between people. Every candidate will list and promise what they will. Their political party will bring to the table a lot of stereotypes, good and bad for WHATEVER party that candidate belongs to. Even more so…those stereotypes are assumed to be the same across the board and all too common it is just the negative ones that are blasted as the sole purpose and identity of anyone and everyone associated with their party.

The system, as I stated before, is flawed, imperfect. It may never be perfect. We make the best of every situation as I know we as human beings are capable of. We kick, scream, cry, whine about the results…yet we all get up afterwards and continue living our lives as best we can. I emphasize again…

The. Best. We. Can.

The results will always and forever anger people, no matter who it is that ends up elected to whatever position the candidate ran for. We as humans still, even after our least favorite candidate is elected, get up and live our life. We may not like the leaders, but the process is over, we as a whole made our choice and we will have a chance again later to do better if we find that our officials are not as good was we may have thought.

I have cast my vote, sealed and signed. Whoever wins the race has won. Yes we assume fair and square as much as someone may not like the results. Be a big kid, pickup your britches. You do not even have to express congratulations to the winner. Just grow a pair, be an adult and know that next time, maybe the person you want in will get voted in. Maybe this time you turn out to actually like the person did get voted in more than you thought.