Healing in a post-election world • Daily Montanan

Even as the dust has begun to settle on the 2024 presidential election, the divisions that have been building during the past decade remain stark. Sadly, it seems that every election has left us more fractured, with political differences turning into fundamental battles of good vs. evil; absolute right vs. absolute wrong; and angels vs. demons.

With emotions still running deep and a political system designed to amplify our differences, it’s no wonder our personal relationships often pay the ultimate price, remaining fractured long after the last vote has been counted.

So what happens now?

Simply put, regardless of who you did or did not vote for, we each have a choice. We can remain entrenched in resentment, or we can choose to move forward.

Yes, the choice really is that simple.

Easy? Well, that depends on you.

The process of mending broken relationships begins and ends with putting aside our personal biases–even the ones you passionately believe to be undisputed, cold, hard facts or those shared by the victorious candidate.

Instead of trying to persuade others to agree with you, allow yourself room for disagreement. Rather than trying to win someone over to “your side,” decide to coexist peacefully despite your differences.

It’s something I call meeting people where they are, not where you want them to be. It’s pretty powerful and a guaranteed path towards mending broken relationships and healing our communities.

Better yet, it is something we all can do–and it costs nothing!

Meeting people where they are looks a lot like practicing kindness and empathy–actively listening to others, not with the intent to argue but to hear them and validate what they are saying. We might not agree, and that’s OK. Disagreement doesn’t have to equal disconnection.

In fact, taking the time to acknowledge someone else’s experiences and feelings goes a long way in reducing tension, opening up opportunities for meaningful dialogue, restoring respect and finding value (and maybe even some common ground!) in one another again.

I get it. Personal beliefs, the ones that have become entrenched so deep, can be very difficult to set aside.

Guess what, though? You can do hard things. We all can.

Otherwise, even when your candidate wins, you also lose because your outspoken biases have led to the loss of meaningful relationships with co-workers, friends, family members and more.

Imagine if we made the conscious choice to create a place where all of us–including the people who didn’t vote like you or look different than you or speak a different language–were free to be whoever and think whatever we want, without any fear of repercussions. We would be unstoppable.

Not to mention, we’d be honoring the very principle on which our country, these “united” states, was founded.

We’ve lost sight of that. The good news is, we all have three superpowers that live inside us – grace, tolerance and love. The challenge now is to dig deep and find them again. By focusing on what connects us rather than what divides us, we can begin to rebuild relationships based on mutual respect rather than ideological alignment.

Fair warning, healing won’t happen overnight. It takes consistency and commitment.

But the rewards? Oh, they are beyond worth it.