My neighbor Shanna came over, crying, utterly bereft about the election.

I told her to put her big-girl panties back on and quit indulging in weeping and wailing and moaning and being angry and sad, moping around like a victim, wasting her energy

She yelled at me.

I don’t do well with being yelled at.

So I got in her face, and shoved a piece of paper at her.

Told her, “On the left side, write down 10 things you’re afraid will change, go away, or be worse, now that the present group is in the WH.”

I made her sit down and do it right then!

Then I had her write down what she’d prefer, on the other side of the paper, across from the ones she wrote down.

She stopped weeping.

“That’s a good idea,” she mumbled.

When she had her preferred list, I had her pick the one that tickled her brain the most. She had three favorites — it was hard to choose.

I asked, “If you could solve any one of them right this second, which one would make you feel the most excited and proud and happy, and like ya Done Something Good?”

She knew right off, and put a big circle around it.

Now.

YOU do it. 

Drag out a sheet of paper — nothing fancy — a big scrap will do!

Put a line down the center.

On the left side, write down the things that bug you — problems and situations you chew on in the back of your mind all the time, but have never tried to do much about.

Now across from each one, write down what you’d want to see happen, even if it seems impossible right at this moment. Even though you might feel stupid or helpless, thinking surely you wouldn’t be able to do anything about them.

Scan your eyes down the list on the right side.

Which item pops out to you?

That’s The One. Circle it.

Now do what I told Shanna: start reading and researching all about that thing. Even if you already know a lot about it — there’s always more to learn!

Start gathering names of people to write; start composing simple emails; start talking about that problem with everyone you come across.

Don’t even make a plan — just start paying attention to it, spending a few minutes a day on it, thinking about what you really really want to have happen, talking about it with friends or family.

When I said that, she ducked her head, and stammered blah-blahs — she was busy, her kids took all her attention … her job … she didn’t have time … it would take money she didn’t have …

I got back in her face again. I can be a real blitch.

I said, “Don’t you see? That’s why things got bad. Too many people don’t take half an hour a day to DO something about a cause.

“You have to start allocating your time! Stop binge-watching Netflix for just 15 minutes a day. Stop scrolling through instagram! Start paying attention to something that really matters to you!

“And even if it feels too big for you, or too time-consuming, or too scary to talk to people, determine to start changing that thing you don’t like.

“For goodness sake! Begin creating a solution! Start turning it into something that will feel good, and that you’ll be proud of.

“Stop sitting around whining, when you could be using your precious life energy to deliberately effect the change you want.”

By now she was ready. She’d picked her favorite cause, nodding to herself. Wiped her eyes. I could see her wheels spinning as she walked out and over to her house.

Start now. 

Yes, you!

Stop waiting for others to make the changes you wish would happen — that’s what got these things you don’t like, in the first place!

Now go away and let me do my part.

She did — now you can, too.

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INSPIRATION
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