There is something we can do, but it is only within ourselves.
Protesting against that which we cannot control only breeds anger; such action wastes energy, time, and effort. Trump’s election is an unwanted fact. We can do with this fact what we will — do we mope? Do we wallow in tears and half-eaten tubs of ice cream? I’ll admit that on the night of the election, I ate three brownies and three health bars in pajamas and flip-flops, pale-faced, unable to face reality as it stood. I kept refreshing The New York Times’ Electoral College-checker in the hopes of being given a reason to eat a celebratory brownie rather than a conciliatory one. I had no such luck.
Part of every single one of us has good reason to want to sulk in a lonely, unsuspecting corner, just as I did last night. It only makes sense that when a candidate wholly unfit for the presidency is elected to the office that we find ourselves at a loss both for words and action.
This state of self-pity must end right now. If we allow our sorrow to dictate our actions for the next day, the next week, or the next year, then we send a message to the rest of the word that we have accepted the results of the election and are allowing them to affect our productivity, self-esteem, and faith in the world.
We should wake up in the morning with a new sense of purpose filling the space of our former battle. Not every day do we have the chance to improve ourselves with the knowledge that our self-improvement stands as a direct challenge to the President that our generation did not elect. We should dress beautifully, we should speak artfully, and we should educate ourselves on the topics that President-elect Trump cannot even fathom. We must seek to find solace in the process of betterment that only we can begin.
Other nations may lose faith in America because of Trump, but the burden is on us to ensure that they do not do so because of our own disenchantment. I urge all of us, as a community, to engage and encourage each other to live our lives fully and with meaning so that our America remains ours.
Leora Eisenberg is a freshman from Eagan, MN. She can be reached at leorae@princeton.edu.
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