I'm excited about the possibilities that tomorrow may bring, but I also want to be real about the savior mentality that is being projected on Barak Obama (not by Barak Obama) by supporters. Voting is the first step in electing a leader that most closely represents your beliefs, but standing in a four hour line will not lead to four years of change.

The significance of your vote is less about whose name you check on November 4th and more about what you do once the new president's four-year term begins. Your vote will only be a symbolic gesture unless you put the energy behind it over the next four years to be the change you want to see in your community.

In a true democracy, everyone has a microphone and thus a responsibility speak and act in alignment with their word. Instead of realizing that we each have a microphone and a world stage to perform on via our own communities, we tend to silence our voices and elect who gets the one mic.

"I'm not asking you to believe in my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I'm asking you to believe in yours."

Barak Obama realized that he does not embody every American's beliefs, however, we all embody the potential to do what Barak Obama is doing in our own lives. The President of the United States is not a savior. One man or one woman cannot single-handedly save a country, but if each man and woman in a country does their part, true change can occur in the next four years. Regardless of who gets elected president, the people will determine the state of this country over the next four years.

Lets go back in time to your junior high school American History class to do a quick refresher on the role of the president. As a voter, it is important to understand what the president can and can't do so that your expectations of their four-year term aren't beyond their role. Below is the actual job description of the United States President:

The President's Job Description

The Constitution assigns the president two roles: chief executive of the federal government and Commander in Chief of the armed forces.

• As Commander in Chief, the president has the authority to send troops into combat, and is the only one who can decide whether to use nuclear weapons.
  
• As chief executive, he enforces laws, treaties, and court rulings; develops federal policies; prepares the national budget; and appoints federal officials.
  
• He also approves or vetoes acts of Congress and grants pardons.
  

• Set vision & strategy (ie power to the peope)
  
• Develop competitive advantage (ie education, universal healthcare)
  
• Build a strong team (ie cabinet, supreme court)
  
• Allocate resources effectively (ie taxing the upper-class)
  

Lately I've started to realize how little control I have over certain occurrences in the world while at the same time trying to preserve my identity as a change agent. It has been a struggle. What do we have control over and what don't we? This is an important question because I don't want to waste my time trying to change things I don't have control over. The areas where this insight has shined the brightest for me are my career and my relationships.

In business I used to think that the CEO "controlled" everything...the people, the decisions, the vision, the success or failure of the company. Over the past two years as CEO of Mylinia.com, I've realized that the CEO's job is supposed to be to relinquish all control to the employees and customers to make decisions that affect the company's vision and overall success. Even with that said, they are still market forces (ie bad economy) and global forces (ie natural disasters) that aren't in a CEO's control but could negatively or positively impact the company.

In romantic relationships and friendships I've realized that people are united or meet because of a force outside of themselves. I never said that I wanted Angelo to be my best friend, but I'm thankful for the force that brought us together at Bishop O'Dowd and has sustained us for over a decade now. In romantic relationships, we call the force that brings two people together love, but we should be aware that that same force has the power to take them apart when it wants to. Instead of trying to explain everything, beat oneself up or blame the other person, sometimes we have to rest in not knowing 'why' and trust that that force knows what is best for us at that moment.

I think we're taught to have an explanation for everything as if we're all knowing, but there are invisible forces in the world that transcend cause and effect. We're also taught to take credit for everything that we accomplish, but I'm starting to see accomplishments as things that Spirit does through me as me instead of things that happened because of me. Why Spirit has chosen to do certain things on this Earth...I don't know. I don't control that =)