No Matter Who Wins, Half the Country Will Be Upset

Nov. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- Those against Obama seem to believe that the country will not survive a second term if he wins.  There are many who truly believe he means to destroy the country!  Those against Romney have gone as far as threatening riots!  

No matter what happens, at the end of the day a lot of America will be upset.

Much of this is as a result of negative campaigning.  Scot Conway, author, has spoken on this subject before.  He is the author of Emotional IQ and Freedom Found.  The first is about developing a clear understanding of emotion, how it works, and what we should do with it.  The second is on forgiveness, letting go, and moving on.

“The hatred of the ‘other side’ is a consequence of negative campaigning.  Both sides invest energy attacking because it’s easier than putting forth and explaining your own ideas.  If you put forth an idea, no matter how good it is, someone will attack it.  You end up in the odd position that the most successful thing you can do is campaign negatively.”  Conway explains.

“It’s where it comes down to the rank and file, though, where the most damage has been done.  Bloggers and columnists, talk radio and opinion television used to be where you found all the negative comments.  Things got nasty.  Maybe they got passed around by email.  For the most part, if it offended you, it was easy to ignore.  Now things have changed.”

“Social media changed the game.  Now internet memes get started and catch on.  I got in a conversation with someone who claimed that Republicans wanted to give corporations the right to sterilize their employees.  I called him on it.  We did a little research and found the one event upon which the meme was based.  It wasn’t anything like the meme stated.”

Both sides have plenty going on.  Those who do not oppose same-sex marriage are decried as anti-God, anti-Bible, and anti-morality.  They are accused of wanting to destroy marriage.  Ask them exactly how allowing same-sex couples to get married will actually destroy marriage, some simply shift to another attack.

It’s Armageddon no matter who wins, at least to a chunk of the “other side.”  Whether we have President Obama for four more years or President Romney, we will have to move on.  He who wins will be President.  That’s the way our system works.

“Letting go on an individual level is where the solution is,” says Conway.  “Many people will have a lot to accept.  They will have a lot to let go.  They will have to move on with their lives.  The alternative is four years of fear and rage.  That’s’ no way to live.”

Where we will find a particular challenge is the workplace.  Few workplaces have solely members of one political philosophies.  As politics gets decidedly nasty, someone at work is offended.  They may say nothing for fear of further attack.  Political season often takes it toll at work.

Even with policies about no political discussion at the workplace, it still bleeds in.  Off-the-clock conversations can damage working relationships.  Client comments can anger your team members.  Of course, any political position expressed by a high ranking official of the company always has the risk of doing harm.  Many businesses find it easier to keep any issues discussed those in which the business or industry has a clear interest.  Other issues are normally left alone.

With many of our employees in social contact with one another, the uniquely negative campaign season is likely to have taken a toll.  Discussions are filled with information obtained from an internet meme or political blog.  It's not news.  It's not vetted.  It's not sourced.  But partisans believe it, and they repeat it.  People get judged, accused, demeaned and, in business, that's always harmful to productivity and working relationships.

Conway has authored Freedom Found, a unique forgiveness book.  He teaches about forgiveness, as do many authors.  What’s unique is that he has a very powerful Five Step Forgiveness Technique that he explains in detail.  He tells you how to do it and why each step is important.  He provides you with a set of “tools” to “boost” your forgiveness skills.  He teaches “letting go” as something larger than forgiveness, though it uses the same system.

The book is free on Amazon.com on Election Day and for a day or two after (depending upon your time zone).  Get it for your Kindle, your Kindle App, or store it with Amazon and read it “in the cloud.”  (That just means the book and the reader are stored on Amazon, and you can read it in any browser.)

Freedom Found: Living the Art of Letting Go and Complete Forgiveness to Cleanse, Release and Find Total Freedom by Scot Conway.  Link directly to the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Found-Complete-Forgiveness-ebook/dp/B0086QVUYA/ref=la_B009VNPT44_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352096271&sr=1-3.

His other book is not free, but it is available at Amazon.com as well. Emotional IQ: Instant Emotional Genius in Quick, Easy Steps from a Single Secret Insight by Scot Conway.  Link: http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-IQ-Instant-Insight-ebook/dp/B00832FUZC/ref=la_B009VNPT44_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352100165&sr=1-1.