In preparation for the election yesterday, I had dinner with a friend who is on the opposite end of the political spectrum. We had such a good time.

I listened to her. She listened to me. We didn’t interrupt each other…. Too much.

I was surprised by some of her points of view and I expect she was surprised by some of my points of view; especially when we acknowledged that we could understand each other’s perspectives.

After dinner she told me that she wasn’t able to talk to any of her other friends about her political positions, as they would get mad and angry with her. She told me that she appreciated our being able to talk about these issues.

I’m not smart enough to know how we address the decisiveness that is playing out in our country these days but I do know that it was very satisfying to just listen and honor the perspective of my friend.

I try to remember that resilience is about bouncing forward from adversity so that we learn from the experience and move on to something new and better. I don’t hold that hope out for our representatives but maybe the rest of us could work to set an example.

© Richard Citrin, All rights reserved, 2018

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