Like many – perhaps even most Americans in this historic year – I’ve been glued to election news. I’m fascinated by the choices, the process, and the people. I respect and admire the intelligence and good will I see in candidates for national, state, and local office – even when I disagree with some of their statements.
Naturally I have some skepticism about promises made in the heat of a campaign. But there’s one promise that I hear from candidates at all levels that I believe and fear that they will keep. That promise? They will ‘fight’ – against yada yada, to yada yada, for me.
I do not want any candidate to fight for me. I want them to work, strive, persuade, question, listen, even argue, challenge and confront injustice. I do not want them to fight.
Do any of us send people to our capital cities to fight? I don’t think we do. Aren’t our three branches of government meant to check and balance each other – not to fight? And yet, haven’t we seen way too much fighting, belligerence, bickering, and feuds among the people we elect?
I know I’m being a little simplistic here. But our language is important. How we say something matters. Do we want our children – who are already exposed to way too much violence – learning that to fight is a lofty goal? Do we want the rest of the world – where I’d like Americans to be known as a peace-loving people – hearing our politicians promising to fight? Do we want those politicians to deliver on that promise? I don’t think so!
I’m not so naïve that I believe none of us should ever fight. When our lives are threatened, we have the right to fight. We should fight. In those dire circumstances when our national security is truly threatened, we have a right to fight. And we should fight. But fighting should be reserved for those dire circumstances and not used in every other sentence as candidates attempt to convince us that they are the best people for the job.
What do I want? I want all candidates to take a vow not to use the word ‘fight’ in their campaigns. I want them to be models for living peaceful and productive lives – lives that don’t include fighting and especially not with other Americans. I want candidates to be more thoughtful about the subliminal messages they send when they say they will ‘fight’ for us. I want them to use a thesaurus!
I don’t have a lot of hope that I’ll get what I want – in this or future campaigns. I doubt my capacity to influence a trend that seems to encompass every candidate and all their campaign managers. But in an effort to expand my sphere of influence, I will personally pledge to – as Gandhi said, “To be the change I want to see in the world.”
I intend to excise the word ‘fight’ from my personal lexicon. From now on, when that man I love and I see things differently, I will strive to see it as an opportunity to listen, persuade, and question rather than a fight. I will attempt to describe such events – even in my own head – as disagreements rather than fights. And I will attempt to similarly re-think encounters with anyone else with whom I might have a disagreement.
I don’t expect my goal to be easy. I’m as susceptible to habits of thinking as anyone else and the word ‘fight’ is deeply entrenched in my brain. But I do believe that my own personal effort – and perhaps yours as well if you, too, were willing to learn other ways to express whatever you’ve previously thought of as a fight – could do much to influence the peace of our planet. One thing I promise you. I will not ‘fight’ to achieve this new goal of mine!
May you attempt, strive, work for, earn, and achieve your highest goals this week! (And not ‘fight!’)
Sally
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