Upset About the Election? Here is How to Best Handle Your Emotions

In a perfect world everyone would get to elect the leader of their choice, but in the presidential election there can be only one "winner." This article was written just prior to the election, but there are now inevitably a significant number of readers who are upset, no matter who was elected.


"Now that the election is over you may be feeling elated, let down or angry," says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training of Sedona Training Associates. "However you feel, it´s time to move on and refocus on what's good not just for you, but for everyone."

This election brought with it some high stakes: a downtrodden economy, job insecurity, a falling housing market and general political unrest. Many of us put our hopes for positive change in the hands of our chosen candidate. But if your candidate did not win, you may now be facing real worry and anger that bad things will happen to you, your children and the country in the years to come.

Holding on to fear and anger, no matter how intense or justified it may seem,  does nothing to help the situation. Though you know this logically, it can still be tough to overcome such strong emotions. This is where The Sedona Method  becomes invaluable, as it teaches you how to release negative thoughts and emotions in the moment.

"If you are holding onto any feelings about the election, I would highly recommend that you welcome them -- and welcome any wanting to do anything with them -- and then let them go," Dwoskin says. "The more you let go of any feelings you have about what happened, the more you can deal effectively with the job at hand." 

"And the job at hand is reuniting and rebuilding our great country," he continues. "This is something we all can do together no matter what our political background. So even if your candidate isn't in the White House, the Congress or the Statehouse, allow yourself to love and support whoever is there as best you can, while still making your voice heard and working toward the causes and perspectives that are closest to your heart."

The most productive and direct route to achieving the positive change that you envision for the country begins with letting go of your fear, anger and feeling that "life is not fair" now that your preferred candidate did not win.

In fact, if you keep up with the mindset that "life is not fair" long enough, you will actually start to create the unfairness that you´re so focused on. Your frequent thoughts of injustice will make it nearly impossible for you to feel what you so desire: that everything is fair, just and exactly how it should be.

The solution, again, is to simply welcome and accept things as they are, then let go of any feelings that brings up in you. As you do this, your mind will become clearer and more focused, and you can put positive effort toward the causes that matter most to you.

"Together we can all create the positive change that our country and our world need," Dwoskin says.