Finally, a new President. Any thoughts?

There’s a good chance your presidential candidate will lose on Tuesday. It doesn’t matter if you support Donald Trump or Joe Biden, your chance of disappointment is approximately the same. You hear people on your side wonder: What will we do if our guy loses?

Here’s what you will do.

You will wake up the next day, or whenever the results are finally confirmed, and be sad. You will feel let down. You thought you knew your fellow Americans and then they went and did this! How could they?

There will be a chorus of voices telling you America is over. Articles will be written and talking heads will be on your television saying America has never been in such a dark place before. You know a little history, enough to be suspicious of these statements, but you’re so disillusioned you’re inclined to believe them. Don’t. We have been through worse and we have survived.

Don't act like the country is ending 

You will hear conspiracy theories. It was the Russians who fixed the election — even though our Electoral College system makes that very difficult. You will hear that busloads of illegal voters were seen arriving at polling places, though photographs are mysteriously never produced. 

Mixed in will be true stories of voting irregularities, the kind that exist in every free system that has ever been. We must work to fix those holes. Our system is imperfect, so people will try to shake your faith in it. Don’t let them.

You will wonder what to tell your children. Tell them that they live in the best, freest country in history and that these are the breaks. Explain that America will continue, America will prosper. Work to make sure America continues and prospers. Walk the walk of loving your country, even when it doesn’t vote your way. Don’t discuss moving to Canada. No one is moving to Canada.

You will shun violence, and you will condemn anyone on your side who does not support a peaceful transition. You will not make excuses. A free country cannot abide rioters in our streets when things don’t go their way.

You will not unfriend people who voted for a different candidate, nor will you post a status asking them to unfriend you. You will save ending friendships for serious infractions of conduct, not varying political opinions.

It’s hard when the candidate you wanted to win loses an election. I’ve worked on campaigns and know the pain of not getting the result I desperately wanted. My candidate was going to change things for the better while their candidate was going to make things worse! My candidate cared and their candidate didn't! I’ve felt this deeply. I’ve lost sleep over politicians losing elections. Life has to go on. As a country we cannot stay suspended and divided by politics.

And, yes, it is politics. Yes, you feel the future of the republic is on the line. You feel your cause is just and their cause is not. You want good and they want bad. Yes, that’s politics.

Family, friends, neighbors, co-workers 

We’ve caricatured our political opponents, but all around you are normal people who support the candidate you oppose. They are your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Look at them anew and recognize they aren’t monsters. If you’ve spent the past four years demonizing the other side, now is the time to reflect on the fact that they, too, want what is best for America. In fact, there are few Americans who don’t want the country to succeed. Reject those people and engage with the ones who love this country but want it to walk a different path.

Do not paint yourself into a corner where the only people you understand are the ones who support the same candidate you do. That’s a very limiting way to live. There’s a wide world out there, and people have many reasons for making the political choices they make. Don’t assume the worst of people who make different choices than you do.

Hidden Common Ground: We found that Americans are more united than it appears

Most of all, do not imagine that one man stands in the way of America’s destruction and if your fellow Americans don’t choose that man, all is lost. America’s entire design is that we do not rely on one person to save us.

Continue to fight for what you care about, but do not lose your perspective. If you woke up an American today, you’re already luckier than the great majority of people in history. One election can’t change that.