Relief

It’s now been enough time since the inauguration of President Biden and VP Kamala Harris, that I can reflect on ‘how it feels.’ If I try hard, I can leave behind the policy questions of how much effort is being expended to undo what Trump worked on for four years – things like immigration, handling of the pandemic, positions on climate control and international relations.

What I notice most is the sense of relief. I don’t wake up each day to tweets from Donald Trump with an unquestionable lie or a questionable claim about something…always the something had to do with him. I know it’s not all gone – I know that there are bozos out there like Marjorie Taylor Green – but the volume is now low enough to ‘feel’ different. I place a lot of stock on how things feel. Decisions can feel right. Relationships can feel good. Some things make me feel bad, particularly stupid decisions I have made, or dumb things I have said that I just cannot get out of my head even years later. (i can’t bring myself to talk about them now).

Whatever you may think about Joe Biden as a politician, a leader, a Democrat, or whatever other tag we can apply – he seems to everyone to be a decent human. He talks about doing the right things and seems be trying to do so. He doesn’t tweet about himself every day, and I am not detecting a load of lies. One can dislike what he says, but rarely call it an untruth.

I used to lead according to a mantra – DTRT I called it. Its silly but it means ‘do the right thing,’ and I let it guide how I treated people, customers, colleagues, employees and business questions. I always figured that if I tried to do the right things, it would show, and inspire others to recognize I was trying and to try to DTRT themselves as well.

How did we get to this point – where the sense of relief from not having our nation’s leader spout nastiness every day about someone or other is noticeable and real. If you don’t feel a sense of relief from this, I’m sorry but your values are a worry.

It feels better.