You Deserve A Break Today: Making History Is Hard Work

Dear Readers,

I've just been notified that in honor of our history-making presidential election last night, today, Nov. 5th, has been cancelled. All citizens have been instructed to remain in their homes, preferably in a horizontal position.

At precisely 10 AM EST today, Larry David will step to the podium and lead the country in a National Post-Election Nervous Breakdown/Celebration. Together, we will all take a d-e-e-p breath, hold for 3 counts, and then exhale. With the exception of continued normal breathing, all other activity will be suspended for 24 hours following the exhalation.

Schools, banks, government offices and all stores, including Starbucks, will be closed in order to allow the entire country to participate in this unprecedented event. Tomorrow, at 10 AM EST, all activity will resume and the country will commence celebration of the first national "You Just Made History, Now Take Back Your Life" Day.

We deserve this break today. No one could have predicted that we'd become a nation of campaign junkies, worshiping at the temple of TV and internet, eager for an hourly fix from the latest soundbite. Now, after two years of our non-stop campaign binge, we've finally staggered across the finish line. So relieved are we that this election is over, I'm predicting a collective exhalation that will rival Hurricane Katrina for ferocity.

As Bill Clinton said in his campaign rally last week with our now new president-elect, Barack Obama, "This has been the longest job interview in history." (726 days to be exact) Campaign fever replaced baseball as the new national pastime. Viewership of Obama's 30-minute infomercial topped that of the final game of the World Series by 70%! You know we're seriously hooked on something when the World Series becomes irrelevant.

Now What?

Fellow junkies, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but after we've chilled out for a day, tomorrow, we get to take our lives off "hold" and get on with them. Time to take on the piles of unpaid bills, unread mail, unwashed dishes, unmowed lawns and maybe even a chance to catch up on two years' worth of lost sleep.

"But what am I supposed to do with my life after I've taken it back?" you ask. Remember what our old friend Warren Buffet says, the simplest solutions usually are most effective.

Here are 5 tips for taking back your life after this election:

1) Become involved in something larger than yourself and pay it forward. Direct all that energy you gave to the election to a cause that's worthy of your passion. Look around. There are gazillions of them out there. Find one. If you were born between 1978 and 2000, you're a "Gen We'er". Check out this website: www.gen-we.org. Your tribe is about to inherit the mess the Baby Boomers are leaving behind. Get involved and have a say about where we go from here. And if you're some other age, like older or younger, find a way to help clean up the mess we've all had a part in creating. Remember the global village? Join it.

2) Meditate. Remember Ellie McPhee, my Inner Bag Lady/Gerbil companion from earlier posts? Check her out here and here. Your gerbil needs daily breaks from the wheel. It doesn't matter if she keeps grinding away during your sit. It might take awhile but have patience. She'll get the hang of it eventually. Trust me on this one, just do it. Let me know how that goes.

3) Step away from and turn off the TV. You've been glued to the set listening to every speech and sound bite for the past 2 years. I'm not suggesting you hibernate from the world forever, but, best to give it a rest for a bit. And while you're at it, turn off talk radio. Spend time in silence or listening to music. Your right brain will love you for it!

3) Join a book club . Really! A shout-out here to my book club, The Illiterati. My book club friends have helped me to discover the joys of literary fiction after thinking only non-fiction books were worthy of my time. Great literature enriches and expands the mind. Enjoy it.

4) Get moving. Spend time in nature, walk, dance, go to the gym, swim, yoga, anything besides just sitting there. Daily exercise changes the body's chemistry, including your metabolism. All those endorphins will make you feel like you just did something good for yourself. And you did!

5) Take time for friends and family. Have family meals together, even if its just once a week. Get out your favorite recipes and give it a go. The holidays are coming and your cooking muscles have atrophied after eating all that campaign take-out. Family time is precious, so if you're lucky enough to live close to family members, make time for each other. Life is short and none of us is getting any younger.

Campaign junkies; take heart. Your next fix is only two years away. In the meantime, there is plenty of work to do. In fact, the real work is about to begin. You've got your personal life to take back and as a nation, we have fences to mend and bridges to build both at home and abroad. Remember those pesky matters like fixing the economy, ending the occupation in Iraq and bringing the troops home, addressing our energy needs, tackling health care and stuff like that?

And how about we figure out a way to live together now as one nation, one color? Haven't we had enough divisiveness? How about instead of calling ourselves Red states or Blue states, we "go rogue" and all become Green states? It's going to be a miserable future for all of us if we don't. Let's show our mettle as 21st century Americans and become bigger than our differences. Time to get involved, have a say about where we go from here and participate in the process of creating a world that elevates us all. We really do have a stake in the game called Everyone Wins.

Black, white, red, yellow, Democrats, Republicans, Independents or any of you Undecideds still out there; America's new chapter begins now. Let's all take part in writing it.

I'd love to hear how you feel about our history-making election, and how you think we can best come together to reimagine ourselves as America and as Americans. I'll be using your comments to launch next week's column. In the meantime, enjoy your break today!

Follow Dr. Judith Rich on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dr_judithrich

Comments

[Pema]

Well..I hate to say it but Sen Saxby Chambliss R.-Georgia ,has a run off election. So it's not really over, not for me. I will stay involved, but the tension level wont be the same. IMO the problem isnt politics , it's not handling the stress. It doesnt matter what is happening, as a nation we don't handle stress well. I think it's better to handle our stress and stay involved. Politics is a every 2 or 4 year event for about half of our adult citizens. Maybe if we all stayed involved, but handled our stress , we wouldnt have found ourselves in this position.
I always tell my hubby on Nov5, ok! time to start on the next race.
meditate, meditate, meditate.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Pema,

Kudos to you for staying on it as long as necessary. And yes, the key is how we deal with what is happening right in front of us. Didn't the Buddha say "Life is suffering"? Stress is a form of suffering. Life happens and then we deal. The key is to surrender to things the way they are as a place to begin. If we remain in resistance to what is, our resistance is what generates stress.

This is tricky because most people think "If I surrender, haven't I given up?" Well yes and no. The question is what did you give up? Surrender means to give up fighting the flow of the river. Why not allow the energy of that flow, which is far greater than us mere mortals, to move us. Why not learn how to navigate in that flow us use it to serve our purpose rather than thwart our purpose.

Staying involved at the local level is a worthy cause to direct your passions towards. Many blessings to you as you remember to keep breathing!

All the best,
Judith

[PSM42]

>Time to take on the piles of unpaid bills, unread mail, unwashed dishes,
How did you know?

Thank you for that very grounded and useful advice - the opposite of the "woe is me" article where I found your link.

Your post is the answer to the problem discovered when waiting to see the first live Obama press conference yesterday. Staring at an empty Chicago podium for twenty minutes. Then afterwards thinking "That was deadly dull. I learned nothing. Why did I do that?"

Remaining involved in something larger than ourselves after the engagement in the election is vital. To start, this single victory of the positive and commonsense over the negative has to be made secure.

And that is a task for a lifetime, because those negative forces are found first within each of us, according to Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung and Harry Wilmer. Forces on which Philip Paul Hallie, Jeffrey Burton Russell, Maya Angelou and others were so eloquent at the conference on Facing Evil in 1987. Bill Moyers, as seems to be a given on the vital issues of our time, was there to capture it on film. Harry Wilmer wrote the book on it. Literally.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

PSM 42,

Yes, indeed! It IS a task for a lifetime. We're never fully baked.

Thanks for bringing forward this important awareness. You mention some of my favorite and most important thinkers in this area.

Much appreciation for taking the time to weigh in,
Judith

[lewes17266]

I am hoping this marks the end of the morally bankrupt Religious Right's meddling in politics. They cry out about abortion yet have done little to reduce the number of unborn deaths as they oppose programs that educate and support families. Senator McCain pandered to the "agents of intolerance" and lost himself in his desperation for votes. The Religious Right and its leaders have done more harm to Christianity than the liberals ever could. I hope our politicians, lawmakers, and media will stop going to the famous millionaire holymen now that Christians have rejected their intolerance and hatemongering and the paranoia over gays and the misuse of scripture for political maneuvering. We're tired of hearing who we should hate and how angry and vengeful their Republican God is and how we should vote and how fearful we should be. I hope and pray the millionaire holymen's influence in the Republican party and American government is a thing of the past.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

We're all so ready to turn the page, aren't we? I, for one, cannot wait to get on with this next chapter. But, as I suggest, an occasional exhale is a good idea!

Happy day,
Judith

[lewes17266]

I like all five tips and I practice many. For me, there is nothing more restorative than a walk on the beach.

I am relieved this race is over. I would have been distraught if McCain/Palin had won. I feel grateful. I am proud of our new First Family. America chose reconciliation and healing and against war and torture and against "agents of intolerance." I was up most of Tuesday night. Wednesday was a good day.

So now you ask, what are we going to do with this victory? I need to first get my act together. I cleaned up yesterday around my computer and gathered up and threw out newspapers and print-outs, so we can walk in here again. I hope I will be able to find the library book I lost during my obsession, and the favorite hat I always wore for my walks. I get so frazzled sometimes and I misplace things.

I enjoyed that Onion link!

[MMJones]

What a great article. After 22 months of being totally invested in a candidate I've believed in from the beginning, I think back at the actual physical repercussions it had on me with all of the negativity being fought by my candidates and the celebration of all victories from the primaries on...

Like many people I know, from the time Palin came on board and the real negative energy seemed to be unleashed, I have been walking around with a feeling of unease and a giant knot in my stomach. Yoga, running, daily meditation kept it at bay, but it was ever present. And, truth be, I couldn't help myself -- I actually fed it by seeking out any and all information. Constantly.

With McCain conceding on November 4, I actually physically felt the knot in my center dissolve... I slept well that night for the first time in a long time. A big cloud of foreboding evaporated. Physical sensations, all of them...

And now I can stop keeping away from people on the opposite political pole, too, and perhaps some friendships can be mended. But I will tell you, it is much easier to do this knowing that Obama/Biden was successful and we are now in the movement of something greater than ourselves.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Just came across this hilarious video from the Onion and thought I'd post the link here:

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_win_causes_obsessive

[dlockatl]

I cannot stop laughing...THIS IS ME!!!!!

thank you for the link

[pleasethinkcritically]

I was planning on following all of the aforementioned suggestions. However, I have now been sucked in to this "Transition Process"!!! I'm fairly certain I will be tracking all appointments, along with the development of the new President-Elect Obama administration. Noooooo! Hooked on phase II!!!!

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Yes, I know what you mean. I think we need to stay involved in something that calls us up be our bigger selves, so if this is your thing, by all means, take it on as something more than an observer. Find a local candidate or organization that needs your passion and plug in.

Thanks for caring about what happens next.

All the best to you,
Judith

[thegirlnextdoor]

Wow, you actually read the posts and reply. You just jumped to the top of the fist for courtesy!

[Tulka2]

Obama will keep his organizaion and email list. Those little notes that start "Dear (insert your name)" will continue... i hope. Because we have got a lot of work to do.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

You said it. And each of us is an important piece of the puzzle. No one can fill in your slot, so thank you for being willing to step up to the plate and help us move forward.

All the best,
Judith

[Ed Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

You are spot on, really! I found the last few months challenging as I found myself following the Obama campaign very closely. I was crying with joy at times and shocked at other times at the appalling disrespect and out right lies that the so called Religious Right tried to pin on a decent man.

I felt a great weight taken off me today. Just relaxing from watching the polls and keeping an eye on what may or may not come up is a great relief. I definitely put my feet up. Thanks for your blog!

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, Ed.

I think we all feel lighter today. But imagine how the candidates must feel! I've been thinking about all of them and wondering how, on earth, they manage to do this gig? We're exhausted from participating as observers or volunteers, but to be at that level of focus and intention is truly remarkable.

And thanks for your consistently interesting blogs here as well.

All the best,
Judith

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Ahhhh, I always feel as though I opened up a window and got a great big breath of wonderful Spring air reading your wonderful wisdom. I danced so hard at the LA Obama victory party last night, that I think I will now take your advice...and go take a nap.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

No kidding! I actually took my own advice and spent this entire day chilling out. My body would have it no other way.

Having phone banked for Obama yesterday until the polls closed in the Mountain states, I made it to the Oakland Convention Center moments before the election was called for Barack. Pandemonium ensued and it was dancing in the streets until well after midnight.

Truly a historic event, and I am so grateful to have been a part of it.

Happy napping, Eli!

[wandering girl]

I think it's terribly important for us to make absolutely certain we do not allow our victory to let us treat the losing party's adherents with anything less than dignity and compassion. in other words - don't treat them the way they have - and in many cases, are still - treated us.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

In this case, "don't do unto others as they have done unto you". Humility doesn't keep score.

[PSM42]

The Mandela approach. Or the Golden Rule.

I like Joseph Campbell's line that only the Dalai Lama has to have unconditional love for every being, even to the uttermost depths of hell. But he is the invocation on earth of Avalokiteśvara; the living embodiment of the compassion of all the buddhas.

For the rest of us the bar is not so high. We can do as you say and "we don't have to love everybody in New York city" to do it. :-)

[Jonahson]

Congratulations for those who voted for change! Before the election we could only dream about a better tomorrow, now it is in our hands to make it a reality. Today, the hard work begins. Start by getting those soldiers back from Iraq. They have been waiting for this change longer than anyone of you.

[Dr. Judith Rich - Huffpost Blogger]

Jonahson,

You are so right! It truly is in OUR hands to make this dream a reality. No single person can do this alone. It's going to "take a village" in this case, a global village, to pull together and right this ship. We're all in it together, but the work has already begun. No one could be more aware of the need to bring our troops home than Barack, who ran on the premise that the war in Iraq was a mistake that needs to be brought to an end.