Let’s heal, work on uniting America

Lost within the rubble of our divided nation, there is a ray of light, a beacon which shines so bright that it outshines the trials which haunt us. The next generation: Perhaps while older folks may see us as idle and coddled, we see differently. We see a new hope for our country, a hope which can be molded into something beautiful which has never yet been seen before.

The recent election has uncovered, beyond politics, beyond statistics, something which is very profoundly rooted in the divisive nature of ourselves. We know now we are not one America, we are not really one people. While half the country is elated due to the recent events, one half is mournful. Perhaps the next generation, who will inherit the planet, can sense the state of our nation better than the old.

Everyone who voted in the election, whether you are 18 or 80, you made a choice. A choice to fight for democracy, the democracy you believed would most benefit America. Every citizen who cast a vote.

Their vote on election day made a statement about what kind of America they would want their children to inherit, regardless of what name was checked off on the ballot. If you voted for Hillary Clinton, you made a choice to fight for what you believed in. If you voted for Donald Trump, you did the same.

If we all believe in democracy, in freedom, in the beauty of our country, what does it matter who we voted for? Why should it matter who is the president when we, really, want the same thing?

We want a future which our children and grandchildren will be excited to inherit. We all want a better future, but some people express that in different ways. People of America do not all think the same, instead we are a beautiful and joyous multitude of ideas blended together to form one nation founded on love of country. We all want what’s best for our country, but we didn’t all vote the same on election day. The next president has been chosen, and not everybody is happy about the outcome.

Let’s put our differences aside, because differences are what make us a wonderfully diverse, interesting country full of compassion and inclusion. We need to unite as a country, and believe, once again, in the American dream.

As a member of the next generation, the generation which will reap the benefits or carry the burden of those who came before me, I can understand how some people feel. Some people are angry, and that’s OK. We are one nation, but we don’t all feel the same way all the time. If we did, would we really be America?

Regardless of who you voted for on election day, please thank your friends and family for voting, because they, consciously, made a choice which they thought would better their country. We need not only leadership, but more importantly we need unity as a people, and then we can accomplish what no previous generation has done before.

Hillary supporters and Trump supporters, we are all supporters of the American dream, and regardless of who you voted for, we are too strong a nation to let one election close the curtains on our conquest for freedom as Americans. We need to start healing, and then we need to start working, and then we will truly be on the path to a success we can all agree on.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Let’s heal, work on uniting America."