(Editor's Notes - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Waking up the morning after a presidential election to realize that more than 68 million people, or nearly 73 million people don’t agree with the vision you had for leadership of this country is a bit startling, isn’t it?

Less startling, but still thought-provoking, is that at least 2.16 million voters chose someone other than the two major party candidates when they cast their ballots. Our opinions are more varied than red or blue; and that is as it should be.

No matter whether you were celebrating Wednesday morning or disappointed, what we all learned is that millions upon millions of people think differently about what this country needs than we do. Though each of us was convinced that ours was the only right (to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln), and that the “other side” couldn’t possibly be as strong as its loudest supporters had led us to believe, we were wrong.

Where does that leave us? Angry? Disappointed? Frustrated? Gloating? Hopeful? Energized? Demoralized? A little bit of all that?

It should leave us curious. It should leave us determined to find out what made each side believe so strongly in its own convictions, and what made them think so little of our cherished perspectives. It should force us to ask questions — and then to really listen to the answers. It should force us to examine our own values and agenda, to consider whether there is value in any of what we are learning from those who voted differently.

And it should prompt many of us to turn to the faith traditions we rely on, most of which include ideas such as turning the other cheek, judging not lest we be judged, loving our neighbors, treating others as we would like to be treated, compassion, empathy, caring — and removing the plank from our own eyes before we attempt to remove a plank from another’s.

Of course, for some their faith tradition also includes flipping tables and angrily shouting at those in authority. Most of you have already likely gotten that part out of your system. It’s time to move on.

It’s time to heal, to learn from one another, and to lift each other up.

It’s time to move forward.

No matter where we land on the political spectrum, most of us understand the things we truly want for our families and communities are not going to come via our politicians. They may be the vehicles that make some of it happen, but WE must be the fuel.

It is up to us to demand that education be valued, supported and accessible. It is up to us to demand that the most vulnerable among us have resources that will give them a hand up. It is up to us to demand that developers will have good reason to build affordable housing in our communities, and that employers feel we have what they need to set up shop (and start employing) here. It is up to us to demand that rights be expanded, rather than taken away.

It is up to us to tell extremists they can no longer use hate, fear and social media to manipulate us into hopping on to their agendas. We’re better than that. And right now, no matter who we voted for, we have a chance to prove it.

Stand for what YOU believe in (not what you have been told to believe), fight for your values, fight for your families and your communities. No one must give up.

But we MUST carry on those fights with the intent to listen to and lift up everyone, to the best of our abilities. If we can pull that off, there’s no stopping us.

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com.