How are you feeling? That’s the question I’ve been most commonly asked over the past few days since the election. It’s sort of an impossible question to answer in a short amount of time. I’m feeling all the things! I’ve felt disappointment and frustration in losing after giving our best attempt yet. I’ve also felt pride in the campaign we’ve run, hope about the political process, and deep gratitude for the people who’ve supported us along the way. Mentally, emotionally, and physically though I’m spent. Tuesday night as we watched the election returns come in, I could feel my body slowly shutting down from the sheer weight of exhaustion over the past few months. At one point past 9 pm I was laying face down on the floor of my living room next to my laptop when my campaign manager decided it was time to call it. I had given everything, and now it was time to recuperate.

I spent much of the next 3 days in bed sick as a dog. At first I had a fever, chills, and body aches. Then, as my illnesses tend to go, it moved to a constant drip of coughing and nose blowing. By the end of the week I was feeling much better, my voice had returned even if my energy hadn’t. I made the decision to follow through on a previous commitment to fly to Durham. While I’m glad I went for the fellowship, it was a tough day of travel and it took everything I had to simply stay upright the whole day. My grandma was right, sometimes I just need to sit my tail down somewhere and be still. So that’s what I’m doing.

For the first time in months I woke up to a Saturday where we had no plans, just a singular commitment to enjoy ourselves on the sabbath. I slept in late and ate brunch around the table with the family. Now I’m sitting outside on the patio sipping tea, reading and writing while the kids and dog play in the background. This is the beginning of my restoration phase.

Last night (after multiple flight delays back into Atlanta), I finally arrived home nearly 2 hours later than originally planned. After putting the girls to bed, Samantha and I watched Kevin Hart receive the Mark Twain Prize for comedy on Netflix. I really like watching people receive lifetime achievement awards because you get to hear the narrative arc of their story (and it’s a great practice of giving people their flowers while they’re still here). At the end of the show, Kevin said something that really resonated with me. As he thanked all of the folks who showed up for him on this evening to celebrate his lifetime achievement, he reflected on the gamble that is pursuing your dreams. He encouraged anyone listening to take the gamble in life because you don’t know what your future will be. You win some, you lose some, but there’s no greater win than the win of choice.

I’m glad that I took the gamble to run. I’m honored that so many people took the gamble to support our campaign. I wouldn’t exchange these past few months for anything, because it’s taught me so many important lessons that I’m sure will serve me well for whatever is next. I’m especially proud that my daughters had a front row seat throughout the entire process. I hope this bodes well for their own risk taking pursuits. We don’t know what the future will be, but we can influence it with our actions. Life is the question, and how we live it is our answer right? (Gary Keller).

Speaking of questions, the second most asked question I’ve received has been, are you going to run again? Just this morning I got a text from a fellow candidate encouraging me to do so. It’s a question that deep down I likely already know the answer. We’ll just have to wait and see how things unfold.

SDW3