Presidential elections are always emotional and could get heated when speaking about one’s candidate to followers of the opposing party.  In a country where people have freedom to voice their opinions, it is not easy to survive if you are located in a community where the majority of the population has a different position than yours.  Some individuals will be emotionally devastated if their candidate does not win, others will engage in impassioned conversations to prove their points. In these elections, where the results are expected to be very close, here are some tips to survive if your candidate does not win:

November 2008

How to Survive Elections If Your Candidate Does Not Win

By Diana Higuera

 

· Do not take it personally:  You are probably going to hear many comments against your candidate that will annoy you.  A lot of people make comments that are not based on research.  If you don’t know the people, try to ignore them; if you are engaged in a conversation, ask in a calm way for clarification, and ask for examples.

· Observe yourself:  Sometimes calm conversations escalate in tone. Observe yourself and be aware of the physical symptoms that are telling you that your anger is rising and that you are about to lose it.  For some people their face gets red or warm, for some others the eyes get watery or their throats get dry.  Know yourself and be alert for the warning signs.

· Use cool downs:  Once you identify the signs in your body that let you know that you are angry, identify the cool downs that work for you.  For some people a cool down can be a glass of water; for others it would be to count down from 10 to 1 or simply to breathe deeply 3 times.  Be creative and discover what works for you.

· Don’t be afraid to use a rain check:  For some people a cool down is not a matter of seconds.  Don’t be afraid of asking for a rain check or a time out to calm down before returning to the conversation.  Remember that if you are the person asking for the time out, you are also the one who is expected to restart the conversation back at another time.

· Express yourself in healthy ways:  Don’t repress your thoughts, just look for healthy ways to express yourself.  An idea could be to write opinion articles to the press, or start your own blog.

· Be open-minded: Remember that everyone has a right to their own perspective and opinion.