Scenario: Obama wins. We, his supporters, cry like babies, party like rockstars and/or settle into the best sleep we've gotten in months. McCain supporters explode into random fits of rage and begin cursing the day the word CHANGE was invented.
Scenario: McCain wins. We, Obama Supporters, cry like babies, get drunk like rockstars and/or stay up all night asking who what when where and why the hell the election was stolen...again!? McCain supporters skip around with glee and snuggle into warm beds filling damn good about suppressing the will & needs of the country. They're good at that.
One of these will be the case after tonight. Of course, i'm hoping, praying and firmly believing for a huge Obama win. But after this happens, what do we do next?
You know that CHANGE Obama has spoke so passionately about since Day 1? Tomorrow, no matter what happens, we begin the metamorphosis.
After an Obama win, it will be fairly easy to sigh with relief and carry on with business as normal prior to this life-altering election cycle. I mean, many of us have worked damn hard to get him elected. We deserve a vacation. So take it. Enjoy it. And revel in the happiness. But please do not forget that President Barack Obama built his platform on CHANGE and it will take more than his words to get it going.
CHANGE can not and will not occur if we get complacent. Obama needs us to deliver our part. If he does his, and we do ours, America will be on a path that we have never been on before and it is long overdue.
So what does CHANGE look and feel like? It can come in many forms. Here are a few examples:
CHANGE is reaching across any and all racial/sexual orientation/socio-economic status barriers and realizing that no one is greater than or lesser than you. Who are we to oppose working with, fraternizing with, and being civil with those who may be different from us? This has been the poison of our country since it's rise as a nation and if we are not careful, it will be our fall. The time is now to heal the wounds, calm the storm and act like we have some common sense and decency for eachother.
CHANGE is holding ourselves personally accountable for bettering our own communities. There is no such thing as a too small act of kindness. Whether you can feed 8 people or 800, do it. If you can run for a public office and really hammer home CHANGE, do it. If you can visit senior citizen homes and put smiles on their faces, do it. If you can volunteer at your local schools, do it. If you can counsel children and teens and give them an outlet to be heard, do it. DO SOMETHING!
CHANGE is nuturing the seed of greatness that can be found inside all of us. No matter your skin color, family background, economic status or current predicament, you CAN rise above anything attempting to keep you down. Control your own life and get that education, get that job, get that sense of self-accomplishment and self-esteem and fulfill your own destiny of greatness. Please look at the Obama family as role models and know that it can be done. YES WE CAN has not been the mantra for no reason. If we believe we can do it and actually put forth the effort, it will happen.
I truly feel as if we are on the brink of something amazing in this country. It's been a long time coming and we've learned from mistakes, earned from smart choices and are still in the dark about plenty. But we have to begin somewhere and when Barack Obama takes office, the green light will shine and we must GO. Hillary Clinton told us years ago that it takes a village (I love her for that phrase), and the same rings true today. It takes a leader with the moral capacity and intellectual fortitude to strike the match, but it takes the entire village to rage the fire.
Let's rise to the occasion.