12 September 2022 - Voting to achieve success and improve your health
Voting to achieve success and improve your health
Revised 27 September 2022
The U.S. general election is on Tuesday, 8 November 2022, but many of us can start voting absentee at the end of this month (in Michigan, absentee ballots are available on 29 September 2022, see https://www.michigan.gov/sos/resources/news/2022/08/25/absentee-ballot-applications-now-available-for-the-nov-8-general-election .
Voting is the civic duty of all citizens. Although not required by law, it is a moral responsibility that prior generations have fought and died for - the right to choose our elected representatives in free and fair elections.
In addition, I suggest that voting and political involvement will help you become more successful in life, however you define success, for these reasons:
First, voting and political involvement gives you more self-confidence. You know that you are an important part of making society better by selecting its future leaders, and this self-confidence makes others want to be associated with you.
Second, voting and political involvement tells others that you recognize the importance of your role in society, which also makes them more likely to want to interact with you, a "doer", not just a "complainer."
Third, voting and political involvement helps you understand how society works, which helps you become more successful. Getting things done involves hard work and overcoming frustration and despair. This is true in politics as well as life in general. We all hope for easy solutions, but this is typically not the way the world works. When we understand this better, it makes it more likely we can overcome these obstacles to become successful.
Voting and political involvement may also improve your health. These activities help you better understand the social and economic policies that shape health for you and all Americans. With this understanding, you are more likely to make the difficult behavioral changes needed to improve your life expectancy, see
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/opinion/us-life-expectancy.html . Of course, the physical act of filling in an oval on a ballot does not directly improve your health. But all the emotions and activities associated with this act may change your perspective on who you are and what your role is in society, and that may cause you to act in a more healthy way.
@NatPpolitics