Stop right now and take a full deep breath through your nose right where you are. Maybe do that a couple more times and then keep reading…

Hello, my American friends. The day has finally arrived! I know tomorrow/today (whenever you are reading this) is racked with anxiety, dread, excitement, you name it – our emotions are high and running for the hills. The news is up and down, left and right, it’s overwhelmingly all over the place. We want to trust what we hear or we simply want to plug our ears! So before we have any answers about the turn out to this election, here’s are five things I suggest we all do to prepare for the outcome, I hope you will join me.

Move your body!

Take a walk, schedule a workout, do yoga in your backyard. Whatever you choose, make it a priority to schedule at least 30 minutes of movement in your day. Here is a fantastic podcast on how to complete the stress cycle.

Grab takeout for dinner.

Make today easy on yourself and grab those tacos on the way home. Even better, get those tacos delivered!

Connect with real people.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media, take a break for part of the day and connect with someone. Phone a friend, send a text, jump on Marco Polo and look at a few real people in the face, and let them know you see them!

Shower.

I’m serious about this one. Do your hair, put on your favorite top or pair of earrings, and smell amazing. Your mind will be working overtime so let your body do some heavy lifting too. We are more connected than we realize, so let’s have our bodies send a message to our brains that we will get through this!

Pray the Jesus Prayer

Pray “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” throughout the day. This prayer contains everything that we are feeling today. It contains a declaration of hope that we find in Jesus, as well as a heartfelt cry for God to show us mercy in our brokenness.

*BONUS*

Vote, if you haven’t already!

We are going to make it! Keep calm, read sources you trust and wait. Neither person can declare victory, only the state election officials can. And remember, our Ruler is not of this world, therefore we are not of this world. We are aliens and strangers. The Church is not left or right but something entirely different. She is not at the center of politics as many might have you think, she is centered solely on the person of Jesus and she has plenty of room at the table for us all.

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