We had an election last night in the U.S., where I live. I suspect that no matter where you live, you know about it. I’m not going to talk about the specifics, for many reasons, one of which is that I’m recording this on Monday, before the election. 

I wondered, since we don’t talk about politics in Bright Line Eating, if I should just ignore the election and talk about something else. I decided to address it, though, because I have four thoughts to share.

First, I will watch the election returns with my daughter at my dad’s house. We’ll watch late into the night. I remember doing that for two other presidential elections. For one of them, I was happy with the results and for the other, I wasn’t. But in both cases, I binged my brains out while watching with a big bowl of sugar and flour. 

I’m not doing that this time. Maybe I’ll have a cup of ginger tea. Maybe I’ll have nothing and just cuddle with my daughter. I feel like there are two separate tracks: Life is happening over here on one track, and on the other side, I’m eating Bright, avoiding sugar and flour, on a totally different plane from all the life-gets-lifey stuff.

I wasn’t always able to do that, and I have no judgment on you if you ate your way through election night. I thank God that I don’t need to do that now. 

My second thought is that this election brings to mind the Serenity Prayer, and the difference between what we can and can’t control. We do have some control with this election: we can vote, we can canvas, we can donate. But we can’t control the outcome. The results are out of our hands. But research shows that people are happier when they focus on outcomes that are within their control. 

So, this is a good opportunity to ask ourselves how much we’re focused on things that are out of our control. Leading up to this election, I’ve been reading a lot of political news and receiving lots of negative inputs. I realized I needed to stop, so I broke the cycle and stopped reading the news for a night. I have control over how much of that stuff is in my sphere.

My third thought is this: I am so grateful for our Bright Line community and how we handle politics here. Just so you know, if you post comments about specific candidates, how people should be voting, or anything contentious that’s not about how we Bright Lifers navigate life, we will remove them. We do a beautiful job of staying focused on our primary purpose: creating a safe space for people to find a healthier relationship with food through Bright Lines. 

Our people participate in numerous groups: Mastermind groups, Gideon Games groups, and other forums, and we come from many different backgrounds and perspectives. We love each other and get along. There may be topics we don’t discuss, but we see each other as humans and are reminded that people are good. We can have a lot in common with people we don’t share political views with. We have a common challenge with food and a common solution with our Bright Lines. That binds us together. 

At Bright Line Eating, we’re connected to others in a loving, trusting way, regardless of our political views. Many people do not have that kind of connection. It’s a blessing to have a safe, protected space, without political ads or other distractions, where we can connect. 

My final thought is something my mentor brought up recently related to the election. It’s what she’s been asking herself regularly: is this self-inflicted pain? Am I torturing myself mentally? That’s what I had to ask myself when I was reading too much political news. 

So happy day after the election! I’m grateful to be in community with you, to have carved out a little piece of the world where we can be together focused on our own healing. We stay Bright so that we can be happy, calm, and useful. If outside events are shaking us, it’s our job to bring ourselves back to our center.