On the most basic, proud-to-be-an-American-who-enjoys-their-Americany-rights-level, do you know how your partner feels about voting? Are they passionate enough to cast a ballot supporting folks who believe as they do?
Like Hamlet never said, “To vote or not to vote...THAT is the question,” and it’s one you should probably stone-cold know your partner’s answer to before you start consuming too much news together these days.
Politics can be massively divisive for some couples when they start sharing stances on fiscal, social and governmental issues that light their fire. Want to dive in anyway? We loooove advice from a Gottman Institute recent daily email about what we can learn from being in conflict with our love once we get past the fact that we’re in conflict with our love:
"Generally, people think the goal of conflict is winning….The goal of conflict is understanding. Understanding doesn’t mean you agree (which is okay, because you don’t need to resolve your conflicts). You just need to manage them. So the next time you feel yourself getting frustrated, instead of digging in and defending your position, stop and say, 'Help me understand.’ This turns conflict into connection."
Praise, Gottmans.
Armed with that advice, no matter what your love’s take is on voting by Nov. 6 at 8 o’clock...seek to understanding why they choose to vote (or not) as much as what issues and candidates they are voting for or against.
You don’t need a heavy political bent to have an opinion about the act of voting...a U.S. privilege that’s become something of a hot-button issue despite it *seeming* like a no-brainer to honor folks who died fighting to ensure our political freedom.
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