By Jim Beard

If you are a Democrat or a Democrat-leaning person, you are probably like me, in a lot of pain right now. As the results came in last Thursday, it became clear that what we feared was coming to pass. A common result I have heard from many people was that they couldn’t sleep that night, and I could be counted among them.

The cry from many was how could this happen again? Have we learned nothing from the past? We cried, we were angry, we were depressed and some of us went into denial. But alas it is real, and we have to deal with it.

My purpose here is not to cast blame for the loss; I am sure there are many people who will be happy to do that. I am also not going to try to convince you that this is not bad for the country because it is. But I would like to somehow send a message of hope in the midst of this madness.

First of all, be kind to yourself. I am not saying ignore all of the sad and upsetting emotions. They are real and you need to deal with them head on. Cry, yell in an empty room, throw pillows or anything else that is not destructive to yourself or others. But that being said, we are stuck with Trump for the next four years.

It is your life, and you only get to live it once. The next four years of your life are yours; don’t let Trump take it away from you. Live your life in the good ways you wish to. Go to parties, laugh with friends, worship with others, go to family gatherings and love one another.

Yes, there will be bad things happening from the Trump administration, and I am certainly not saying to ignore them. We will need to protest and be active in opposing many of his evil plans. All I am saying is that in addition to activism, continue have a life that is fulfilling. Don’t let Trump steal your life from you.

Beyond that, this is not all doom and glow even though it will be hard. There were over 70 million people who voted for Harris. We are not alone. There are plenty of us; we can come back.

We have winners. Josh Stein is governor-elect of North Carolina, there are many states that are controlled by democrats. We managed to defend or pick up open Senate seats in a number of states where the state went for Trump. The House of Representatives may go to the Republicans but by a very narrow margin.

My point is that this may be a dark time, but all is not lost. As it says in Psalms 30: 5b, “Weeping may linger for the night but joy comes with the morning.” Fight the good fight but be kind to yourself.

Jim Beard lives in Albemarle and is longtime Salisbury resident and chemistry professor at Catawba College.