On the humid, eighty degree afternoon of July, 4 2026 in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, I was busy mowing my lawn. I didn’t set off fireworks to celebrate “The Fourth”, I was content simply letting the fresh lawn clippings fly. I was dressed in blue jeans and a long sleeve white shirt so I didn’t get sunburned . . . although, in hindsight a proper sunburn would have completed my patriotic color scheme quite nicely.
Meanwhile, The United States, the country I and millions of others lovingly calling home, was celebrating its 250th birthday. As I mowed, I wished the United States an even greater next 250 years.
But boy, fulfilling that wish sounds infinitely harder than mowing a lawn in the sticky, summer heat, considering where we are as a country. There’s simply too much anger in the USA these days.
Millions of people are irate and confused as to why 75,019,230 people voted for one side while another 77,303,568 people voted for the other. To me these statistics mean that the other side, whichever side you or I are on, simply isn’t going away.
There’s no scenario where either side will be completely and absolutely beaten and just slink off into the sunset.
That. Is. Just. Not. Going. To. Happen.
So how do we deal with all this division moving forward?
One approach is to continue retreating into our individual silos of rightness until there’s no hope of unity. Silo living is tempting to me because I can find a great deal of evidence to support my views and beliefs. Truth be told, I also like the feeling of being right. But my smug feelings are not going to help re-unite America.
Another approach would be to try to find some kind of unity in the collective circumstances we’re all experiencing on one level or another.
On that note, I have an opportunity to take responsibility for my own lawn-portion-role I’ve played in creating the division in this country. Honestly, I don’t want to take even a tiny bit of responsibility for this. I love blaming others for the political, societal and financial pain we are presently in. However, I too have a lawn in this country and I can either choose to keep it well taken care of, or I can choose to let it go to pot.
On that front I thought of the following ideas that could help me think and act in ways that are less polarizing and more becoming of the kind person I believe myself to be:
- Find interest in and celebrate ideas that are different from my own.
- Consider what the other side is saying, not to find the wrong-ness in it, but to find the practicality, the parts that make sense, and even, dare I say, the brilliance in the opposing view.
- Understand that it is important that I have my own ideas and stand for them, and that I vote, of course, BUT, at the same time, understand that I can’t know with absolute certainty what is right or what is going to bring the best outcome.
- Remember that there’s an entire universe of non-political things I can talk about and do with people who hold different political views than me.
- Let my voice be heard in a way that increases the likelihood of people with other views hearing it. When I state my political views, be polite, be clear, try to use facts.
- Accept that I may be wrong. This simple truth is a reality check we ALL could use.
- Remember that people are complex – everyone has goodness, blindspots AND challenges.
- Remember that the founders of this country didn’t know ALL the answers and couldn’t predict how the future would unfold, and neither can I.
I imagine that as I practice, incorporate and expand upon this list, I will struggle, experience my fair share of failures and often forget to do them at all. BUT, this is the Imperfect Best I can do to mow my own lawn, knowing there are millions, upon millions, of other lawns making up the vast beauty of The United States of America.
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JASON FREEMAN is a Professional Speaker and the proud owner of a Speech Impediment. He is also the author of “Awkwardly Awesome: Embracing My Imperfect Best” and a Perseverance Coach.
He excites and encourages his audience to break through the barriers of their own limitations using a method he created, called “Doing your Imperfect Best ™”.
His Imperfect TEDx Talk can be viewed here.
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