Time for grieving?

Maybe I am an old coot-ess but I have been around the block a few times and have seen quite a few disappointing election outcomes.  I have noticed, as far as day to day life goes, not much changes.  Then, as the pictures of the mostly young people went through my mind, I realized that I was getting caught up in their contagious anger.

Since the events of  November 8 came (2016) to pass, the media keep bombarding me with videos showing such chaos in the streets that I want to yell  "calm down people and just accept the outcome as the democratic process!"

Suddenly, I remembered what I have read about acceptance.  It is the final stage of grief. "Hey", I thought, "these people are grieving!"  Grieving is usually associated with the death of a loved one.  But I have been told that grief can come with any loss.


I recalled the 5 stages of grief.  They are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. In  my opinion, this trouble is a classic case of grieving.  The denial came the day after the election when some crowds carried signs and cried "not MY president".  Next I saw anger the when I saw the image of someone image beating the heck out of some sign or something.  The bargaining stage could seen as the call by some to oust the electoral college.  I saw depression when I saw some US flags at half mast. Yes, I am seeing acceptance too. Its only a matter of time before people see that this is NOT Armageddon, neither is it the end of America as we know it.


Before one accepts, one must grieve. This process comes and goes quickly for some, more slowly for others, but it will pass. Life will soon get back to the sometimes boring, sometimes painful, sometimes joyful, normality of life.  And in four years, if the real Armageddon doesn't come, we will have another chance to get what we want.