By Steve Moran

I wish presidential politics had nothing to do with senior living, but they do though, because they impact the economy, wages, and the rapidly aging population in the United States.

It is fortunate that, at least in senior living, partisan political posts have been almost entirely missing on LinkedIn, the social platform most frequented by senior living leaders. This is much less true on Facebook, where it is a cesspool of ugly posts.

Anxiety and Hatred

The most unfortunate element of all of this is that mostly, people are terrified that the candidate they don’t support will win. The result of this terror is that many people — not you, I hope — not only despise “the other candidate” but despise those people who support the other candidate.

This should not be.

I hope this article will be helpful, because I have a nearly perfect picture of how it will turn out. 😉

The Ultimate Outcome

We are faced with two competing views of how the United States should be led, which, according to the candidates, are vastly different (which may or may not be true).

Worst of all, both sides want you to hate the other side — not just the candidate but everyone who supports the other candidate.

Each side’s big idea, most forceful argument, is that if the other side wins, it will be the downfall of the country. And millions of people on both sides have bought into one of these two narratives.

Both Sides Will Be Profoundly Disappointed

I have been doing some reading about the science of ambiguity — in other words, the study of “not knowing” or “uncertainty” — and came to a startling realization.

If you are in either camp — where you have great certainty that if your candidate wins, things will be terrific, and that if your side loses, the country will go to hell …

Regardless of the outcome, you will be profoundly disappointed!

I am 100% certain that if your side wins, your candidate wins, the result will not be as amazing as they promised and you dream of. I am also 100% certain that if your side loses, the country will not be destroyed.

A Better Way

Based on some research out of Europe where business leaders faced two vastly different choices, the ones who were ambivalent handled the resulting changes much better. They were happier, and their businesses did better.

This is reminiscent of the parable about the farmer whose horse ran away. When his neighbors offer sympathy for his bad luck, he responds that “maybe it is bad luck and maybe not.” Then the next day the horse returns, followed by seven wild horses, which causes the neighbors to congratulate him on his good luck. He again responds that maybe it is good luck and maybe not …. You can read the entire parable by following the link above.

The better way is to study the issues and candidate and make your voting decision based on what you believe is best for the country and best for your family and your community — at the same time recognizing that, while millions of people will vote for your favored candidate, millions more will vote for the candidate you don’t want to win.

… And remember that most of those people voting are doing so for reasons that are legitimate to them.

Try This

In fact, as an exercise, try making a list of the good reasons someone might vote for the other candidate. This will help you not hate those who vote differently than you.

There is one other benefit. You do not waste time and energy on something you have almost no control over, and instead you can use that time and energy to make a real difference in the world.