It is over. Done. Kaput. The election is over except for some residual chest thumping and towel-wringing and now it’s time when we hopefully move past what has arguably been one of America’s most stressful, bleakest chapters. So with eyes forward ― and on the prize of healing ― here are nine calls we should all make on the day after The Mother Of All Elections.
1. Speaking of mothers, call yours.
Maybe you can explain to her why Social Security and Medicare were barely mentioned in this campaign. She is probably wondering why, with 10,000 people a day turning 65, nobody thought the future of Social Security was important. A Pew Research Center study ― among others ― listed it as a top 10 concern, and yet we still heard nary a whisper.
2. Call your broker.
The markets hate uncertainty. Clinton is a known quantity whose policies are expected to largely continue those of the Obama administration’s. The markets should appreciate that stability. The forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers predicted that if Clinton wins, the S&P 500 would rise by 4 percent, compared to a Trump victory that would cause it to fall by 7 percent.
So what should a retiree or about-to-be retiree do? Exhale. And then call your financial adviser and make sure your 401(k) or IRA is still on track. And if you don’t have one, what are you waiting for?
3. Call Van Morrison.
Yes, it’s time to start singing “And the healing has begun.”
We all said lots of hideous things over the past 18 months, and yes we meant them at the time. But now it’s time to kiss and make up. Do it for the children.
4. Call your neighbor with the Trump sign still on his lawn.
Listen to what he has to say.
5. Call your neighbor with the Clinton sign still on her lawn.
6. Call your kids and grandkids.
Remind them that the shouting and screaming and name-calling that they heard was excessive and not something civilized people should be proud of. Promise them it belonged to Nov. 8. Today is Nov. 9. Tell them how there were likely times you forgot to use your indoor voice. Show them you regret insulting people, ridiculing other people’s concerns, calling them names, demeaning them, bullying them, rejecting them. Parents and grandparents are role models.
7. Call your relatives and tell them that Thanksgiving is officially declared a politics-free day.
Mean it. Everyone gets two weeks to lick their wounds and then drop their crazy. This election makes us long for the simpler days when all we worried about at the Thanksgiving table was whether Uncle Ned would pass out drunk before he insulted your son’s new boyfriend.
8. Call up a friend you unfriended on Facebook.
Maybe even reinstate a few people you dropped because they disagreed with your choice of candidate. Practice forgiveness. We all learned something from this election about mass hysteria, didn’t we?
9. Call for help if your stress level doesn’t diminish in a week.
Approximately 52 percent of Americans say the presidential race was a “somewhat or very significant source of stress,” according to the American Psychological Association. As we noted last month, excess anxiety can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and a host of other issues. If you don’t start feeling better, seek help says Happify.
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