Campaign is over, it's time to move on

Well go figure! The sun came up this morning just as it has every day. The world may have changed but it didn't end. And regardless of your feelings this morning, I would suspect that everyone agrees that the end of this long, maddening campaign comes as welcome news.

No post-mortem is needed for what just happened. Enough words have been written, enough opinions spoken and now we must advance the cause of the American people in the direction favored by the majority. The bruises will fade in time, the scars vanish.

The worry and the cloud of uncertainty however will not evaporate overnight. A change in command will not solve the massive problems facing this nation at home and abroad. That would apply regardless of Tuesday's outcome.

This nation faces foundational issues that cosmetic change will not resolve. We stand poised to surely change direction not from the past eight years but rather from the past 200 years.

In the weeks and months ahead, the frenzy of this nightmare election will fade into the shadows. But human nature reveals we are often reluctant to change so the road may be bumpy, winding and long. Yet, it is the chosen road and it is the road we'll travel together.

Those of us who share our political opinions should now move on to other matters. There is a time to battle, a time to retreat, a time to reflect and then, a time to simply switch gears and address other matters. That time has arrived.

In short order the holiday season will arrive and perhaps that joyous time will put some closure into the fractured debate that has so divided this country. I do suspect however, that more belt-tightening will be in order given the myriad of economic issues that we face. Hopefully leaner will not equate to meaner.

So many aspects of all of our lives still boil down to personal choices. Good choices, bad choices, questionable choices - they all combine to form the pattern of our lives. All we can ask for is the ability and the freedom to make our own choices and not relegate that single aspect of life to some government entity.

My thoughts this morning are directed squarely toward my children and my grandchildren. Many of you have shared the same feeling, I'm certain. Party labels are much less important than party direction and I can only hope and pray that the change ahead leaves untouched the issues in life that are truly important.

I am guilty, perhaps like you, of pushing some personal decisions to the background given the national obsession of such an important election. So now my focus will turn inward and I'll clean my closet - figuratively and literally.

I could well be wrong but in the 40 or so years I have paid active interest in politics, I have never witnessed the level of passion and raw emotions that surrounded this presidential election. That's not hyperbole, that's observed fact. I remain uncertain how we now bring that passion down a notch or two or how those raw emotions simply fade away. But I can only assume they will.

It may not be a brighter day but regardless, it's a new day. And new days offer promise. So either joyously or reluctantly, we walk into this new day hopeful that the change ahead is positive and fair.

Our nation awoke this morning with half the population overjoyed and half disappointed and even fearful. The only thing certain is that change is around the bend. We can only hope and pray that the light headed in our direction is a beacon of promise and not a locomotive speeding in our direction. Either way, we're in for an interesting future.