Election Day is right around the corner, and I have no idea who I’m voting for. To be honest, outside of the school board election, I don’t even know what offices are even up for election. I know I got a ballad in the mail that is somewhere in the pile of mail on my kitchen counter, but I haven’t opened it. Don’t get me wrong; this matters. Who we elect as leaders for our schools, communities, states, and nation, does matter. The referendum questions matter. I want to vote wisely. I believe my vote matters, and yet, here I am completely uninformed. I care about this; heck, I teach this. So why the disconnect? It’s because there are other things that also matter that take me away from becoming informed.
Here is a list of things that also matter:
- Spending time with my family matters.
- Going on dates with my husband matters
- Eating matters, which means grocery shopping, cooking and doing dishes also matters.
- My job matters.
- Reading my Bible and spending time praying matters.
- Going to church matters.
- Finding ways to volunteer and serve others matters.
- Spending time with my friends matters.
- Relaxing (ie. Shutting my brain down) matters.
- Sleep matters.
- Cleaning up my house matters.
- Doing something I love that makes me feel good matters.
I’m sure this list could be longer, but you get the point.
I check the internet news, at least several times as week. My go-to site is the BBC, because I feel it to be the least full of crap. (I believe that is the technical term for totally biased journalism.) It actually has better US news coverage than US news stations. It also means what little I know about what is going on in politics has nothing to do with state or local issues.
This is not an excuse. Before Tuesday, I intend to do some research and do my best to make an informed decision. However, I also know that as important as this decision is, it’s not the only important thing I need to be thinking about in life. Get out and vote. Take some time to do some research. Pray over the options. But don’t beat yourself up because you aren’t as knowledgeable as you’d like to be. You can’t do it all and know it all.
And for those of you running for office, doing all you do to make your school, town, county, state, and nation a better place, Thank you! Best of luck on Tuesday!