trump Archives - Life Coaching by Christine Gipple

What do we do now? Caring for Yourself Post-Election 2024

My eighteen-year-old daughter who’s away at college called me at 1:30 am during the counting of election ballots asking me, “Mom, what do we do now?” when she saw how the election was leaning.

Below is a portion of my responses, plus additional thoughts in the hopes they might help you care for yourself today and going forward.

“I’m devastated, too…

What we do now is keep going. Keep moving forward. Feel what we feel so we can acknowledge it, move through it, process it, and remember what matters most to us. Yesterday I felt hope, passion, and inspiration for moving forward collectively with compassion, empathy, kindness and strength. Today, the person I voted for won’t be at the helm of our country, yet that doesn’t erase my own desires and hopes. It doesn’t change the fact that half of the country DID vote to protect our democracy and personal choices. We’re all still here.

Alongside my own grief, I somehow feel more passionate, more inspired, and more motivated. Because now my values are at stake at another level. Our freedoms are truly at stake because the person who’ll be in charge doesn’t value giving others personal choice, and instead wants to control and take away many of the choices for so many of us, especially women.

It’s easy for me to blame and get angry and think WTF is wrong with people, when I see the ludicrous inconsistencies in their logic. I go there. I’m baffled when I see people choosing hate, division, and exclusion.

Yet, that’s where we are. Half of our country has chosen a man I label as a dictator and a narcissist to lead our country, and the other half wants compassion, empathy, democracy and diplomacy. I put myself in the latter category where I want us to form strong allies and allegiances– within our country and beyond. I believe we are stronger together. And I believe our actions and choices impact everyone collectively. It’s like the butterfly effect.

And, this is life. We think it’s going one way, and the outcomes are often opposite of what we expect and predict.

So, we keep going. We keep making choices that bring us closer to the kind of world we want to live in. We focus on what matters to us and make sure every action we take contributes to that. It’s a big ask because it requires all of body/mind/spirit to be conscious and online.

And we track every election by being aware of every open seat, check out who’s running and research them. We vote to fill the seats for congress, house of representatives, senate, council, mayor, governor, and of course, president with people who are democracy advocates and protectors. Vs. people who only want to use their power and control to eradicate or shame anyone who disagrees with them.

I told her, we do what we did in this election – see who’s up in each seat, check them out, hear what they have to say, and cast our vote as it aligns with our values. And, if we’re inspired to do more, we do.

Regardless of who’s at the helm of our country, we get to use our voice and be loud. Look at Rosa Parks – she changed history forever with one choice. As of right now, we still have our 19^th amendment.”

So, how do you care for yourself post election? What I’m doing is this: Feeling what I feel, recognizing that my own sadness is longing for a world where peace, inclusion, kindness, tolerance and acceptance is valued. Then I’m asking myself how I can be more conscious about the choices I make in each moment that contributes to those things. I’m asking myself what actions I can take to allow me to feel the way I want to feel, and to promote that feeling with others creating connection, and all the things I just named.

I choose to connect to what matters, and chose from a place of self-awareness around my emotions, instead of blindly reacting and spewing hate.

Wrapping us all with care, hope and love that we will move forward together, in a way that connects and supports each other. Like the roots of the trees that connect underneath, we’re all connected. May we work to create the world that we ALL want to live in, and feel safe to do so as we are.

Joyous Outrage – Embracing Peaceful Intolerance

Joyous Outrage – not words that seem to go together, right? Stay with me…

Last night I pulled an oracle card, and my card was, “Power of Joy. ” The card invited me to consider that when we come from a place of joy, we connect to our purpose. Even though I believe this, I found myself questioning if embracing joy was the wisest choice when we’re living with so much injustice and fear in our world right now.

In the wake of covid19, George Floyd’s murder, and a multitude of other events, I was feeling challenged to embrace joy in the face of horrific injustices. Then I realized choosing joy is the wisest choice. The events of our world are exactly why we need to stay connected to what brings us joy.

In the saying, “time flies when you’re having fun”, we’re reminded how we wish we could stop the clock, press pause, and savor the moment, right? Here’s a few of my moments of joy…

…when I held my sleeping infant daughter in my arms and digitally recorded her tiny sounds as she breathed.
…the night I pulled my wet 3-yr old out of the tub and dressed her faster than a Ninja because Santa was coming on the fire truck outside. Her high pitched squeals of excitement literally made me cry.
…and then the simple beauty of seeing flowers in a vase I love, hearing the birds chirp, witnessing children play.

Just for a moment here, close your eyes and think about what brings you true joy. Ok, got it? Now, hold onto that for a minute.

George Floyd’s death has both, brought our nation together, and illuminated where we’re still grossly divided. With our peaceful protestors there are also opportunistic looters. One blurs into the other as our nation splits into what’s right, what’s wrong, as we forget the entire point of the peaceful protestors. I stand with the protestors. I stand up for Peaceful Intolerance. I stand for claiming justice and joy for ALL humans.

Have the hard conversations. Act on the social injustices you witness. As history continues to repeat itself, I’ve felt ashamed to be a white woman when I see the inequities around me. George Floyd death is not an isolated incident; it’s a systemic reminder of what needs to change. Our enraged country, and our world is screaming, “Enough!”

ENOUGH! Enough to the injustice. Enough to the divide. Enough to rights for some, and not for others.

What can we do if we’re not able to physically protest? How can we bring the change we want to see? That’s what I’ve been sitting with. What can I actually do?

As trite as it sounds, I can embrace joy. Even in my outrage. I can be joyously outraged as I’m reminded all lives matter. Black lives matter. Trans lives matter. Children’s voices matter. Elderly voices matter. And right now more than ever, we need to stand in solidarity that #Black Lives Matter.

Hitler divided us. Hitler decided who was worthy to live based on the color of their skin, the size or shape of their head, or the name someone had. And now our leader is dividing us with those same criteria. I don’t know what kind of pain our president is in, but I do know we cannot afford to let his wounds lead this country anymore.

We need empathy, not tweets.

Action Challenge:

Here’s some steps I’m taking as I’m not able to physically protest right now. Maybe this will spark some ideas for you, too.

Create a Sign to display in your window or on your lawn that promotes Peace, Social Justice, that supports equality for all lives, particularly those whose lives are marginalized in our society.
Join (or create) a group to embrace and embody Anti-Racism and Social Justice as you move into activism around how to end the divide.
Join the Peaceful Protestors and be Peacefully Intolerant
Read books to educate yourself on racism, especially if you’re white. Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Anti-Racist, is a great place to start, as well as Non-Violent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg.
Write to your state’s leaders, your governors, your congressman, or even to The White House.
Sign a variety of petitions honoring the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Watch the film Just Mercy.
Support Owners of Black Owned Bookstores.

Back to joy. If it’s true that our joy leads to our purpose, then I want to focus on what brings me joy. Beauty. Nature. Space. Writing. My daughter. Yoga. Practicing compassion. Empathy. Deep Listening. Connection. Health. As I type this, here’s my view, and it brings me joy.

What brings you joy? What connects you to you? When I invited you to close your eyes earlier, what joyful memories sparked in you? Do more of that! I hope you’ll join me in using *YOUR* voice, to step into what matters most to you.

I hope you’ll be Joyously Outraged and Peacefully Intolerant of what you’ll no longer accept when you see injustices. Here’s a quote that reminds us that an injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’ll be launching an online series on Compassion, Listening and Empathy, a way to Connect You to You. If you’re not already in my community and want to be notified of upcoming workshops, talks or events, join my community here.

I’m grateful to have you as part of my tribe. Until we meet again…

~Chris