Dear Readers, I sit here at 6:19 am listening to the grunts and gurgles that indicate my six week old daughter is starting to wake up, but not quite so that gives me a few minutes (time is precious) to tell you my thoughts on this.. Election Day. As someone who writes and speaks to help others make their dreams a reality, one of the hallmarks of my coaching is that “no one has a voice like you”.. Put in simpler terms, your words, your inflection, your story.. no one else can tell your STORY but you. For example, I can talk about having no political leanings at all for a really long time, and only after educating myself on the issues in this election do I KNOW where I stand.

I have heard a LOT of people rail against the idea of voting at all .. third party candidate can’t possibly win so why would you “waste” your vote that way. Not to mention, some comment I read.. “only suckers vote on election day”.. well no, the only suckers out there are the ones who aren’t voting though they have the right.

So what am I saying? I think it’s pretty clear. Go Vote! We may not agree on who you should vote for, but I think we can all agree you should vote. Why else would I be leaving my daughter with her daddy so I can go vote this morning. Yep, I should have early voted, but I will happily stand in lines today to exercise my right as an American to vote. I am REALLY not proud of the following confession but before this election, I didn’t really APPRECIATE what it is to vote, the privilege and the duty (that is more my husband (who is as patriotic as they come) – but given the fact that the two of us have recently brought a human into this world, I feel a stronger duty to be informed and exercise every right I have.

I  fervently hope we make history today by electing a qualified and worthy presidential candidate, but at the end of the day, I want to be sure the most important thing is that you voted and lifted your VOICE to share with the world, your CHOICE, whether I agree with you or not. I am put in mind of a great line from “The American President” (thank you Aaron Sorkin for helping me put this in the best way I can) that illustrates this beautifully.

“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.”

THINK ABOUT IT.. but more importantly, go VOTE!