A thread of some apolitical (meaning non-political, just to be clear!) life-lessons & takeaways from #Election2024, a thread (originally on Twitter):
> Don’t feel stymied, limited, inhibited even by expert predictions. Polling, stats and future forecasting are all valuable & insightful but are an imprecise & incomplete science, at best an educated researched guesstimate! So don’t lock yourself in or define yourself by it. >
> Even 1 percentage point can make huge difference. Going that extra mile, investing extra bit of time – can be the gamechanger you need. States were won by as little as a percentage point or less, often in life it can be same way. As Rambam says, one mitzvah can tip the scale! >
> Careful not to misread/mislabel other people’s intentions & motives. Tempting to do so, we often read people from our own lens, clouded by our biases. All are better served when we empathize, put ourselves in their shoes, try to honestly understand where they are coming from. >
> People are complex! Identities have many parts & aspects! Even if going for identity politics, must keep this in mind, don’t pigeonhole, stereotype or assume based on color/ethnicity, might not fit into type of box you think! (People ought not to be put in boxes anyways). >
> Hate to say this, as we love & try to focus on #Rebbe’s positivity bias & Fear Not! approach, but Fear Factor was huge #Election2024 motivator – on both sides. Knowing people’s fears can be clever tool to manipulate but also a means to better relate & how to more wisely help. >
> As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Hard to imagine (& value!) trashing treasure or treasuring trash, which is what many on each side thinks of the other – in some ways worse for folks in middle to see/appreciate. Much of this is same in relationships. >
> Presidential politics & policies doesn’t hit the same way for everyone. For some, issues, policy & approach is more idealistic & theoretical, for others very much actual & existential, & for some rhetoric & theories turn fast into practical reality in ways unseen & unexpected.
> My Zeide Moshe told Rebbe #Rashab once saw a Ferris Wheel in Europe, & as #BaalShemTov taught: everything has a lesson, it reminds us that the world is a wheel, fortunes change, there are turns at the top & bottom. – Certainly this way in American Politics, but also in life. >
> Hubris may be natural to some degree, though some way overdo it. Gloating is unpleasant. It is also blinding & leads to blunders. Leaders surely need confidence, they are elected on charisma, people tend to respect strength. But humility is a very humanizing ingredient. >
> It takes some wisdom to know how to advance an issue or position without trampling, to elevate without putting others down. My Bubbe Risha would say this all the time. Rebbe #Maharash taught this lesson to his two sons, one taller, one shorter: Rebbe #Rashab & the Razah. >
> There’s a high incredulity factor in #Election2024 & its aftermath. Not re: vote count itself but in people’s reasonings, rationale, what passes for normal & acceptable. Actually, irrationality is underestimated in decision making processes, not just in elections. >
> We underestimate this more in self than in others. We think we’re thinking rationally, we believe our minds are in drivers seat, but quite often our hearts are the driver. Best to vote/decide with both, but Tanya is very into mind over heart, mind-guided & channeled emotion. >
> Another thing about #Election2024 (& in life, which is the point of these apolitical musings) is that too much was defined by not being the other. One’s own purpose, mission & vision ought to emerge most from who we are, not from who we are not (though that is telling, too). >
> Personally, I love nuance, I appreciate complexity, I usually dislike oversimplification (though I seek distillation, which is what drew me to Twitter & limited character tweets). But when too much is gray area, when nothing is defined, ideas & ideals can go gray… >
> In some ways, especially for some issues, #Election2024 was more B/W vs. Gray, than it was traditional blue or red. It seems obvious that there are people in the middle who might not like the B/W positions themselves, but do want there to be some lines, they feel a need for a declared, bold black line. >
> Life also has (or should have) a healthy mix of B/W & gray, constants & variables, fixed roots & expanding growth, firewalls & portals, O’s & 1’s, principles & flexibility, reserved & expressed… Parenting & education, relationships, work-ethic, so many areas – need both. >
> Been at this #Election2024 apolitical takeaways thread too long, so will conclude (for now) with this Chassidic meditation that I went into this #Election2024 with: A great Chabad teaching is living on 2 paradoxical wavelengths/mindsets/approaches at once, including: the world doesn’t matter at all AND the world matters very much – and it feels healthy (and sane) to feel this way about the election, too. >
> Bottom line: Regardless of which side, either or neither, or both (and that’s also a thing, maybe the ideal thing), we each have lots to do to improve and better our corner of the world. Macro is built on Micro – let’s each do our part!