Four years ago this morning, I woke up in a panic.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Tried as I might, I just couldn't keep myself from thinking what worst case scenario might await us in the years that would lie ahead.

Would it be totalitarianism? Mass incarcerations of groups and dissidents? War? Oppression?

I remember it being a bright, brilliant sunny day. But when I went to get my morning coffee, I was struck by such a stunned silence in a crowded, public place that I only remembered on two previous occasions: the day the space shuttle Challenger exploded and September 11th.

Four years later and I woke up on another November 9th. This time, the weather outside was far from ideal: heavy rain and wind all night, the result of a passing Tropical Storm. But despite the outward situation--and all that has happened over the past four years and especially past few months--I woke up feeling relaxed, happy and optimistic for a change.

Was I wrong to panic four years ago?

Hardly. Even though the worst case scenario didn't play out, we still got some pretty bad scenarios. Stoking of racial and ethnic divisions, boiling over into violence. Unnecessary tension cast between ourselves and our longtime allies, all while we embraced authoritarian governments. An official policy of separation of children and parents at the border.

And while we aren't in a totalitarian, all-oppressive state, the willful and criminal non-response to the global pandemic have forced us into a situation that feels all-oppressive simply by natural default. And hundreds of thousands of people have died because of it.

But today, this raining and windy morning, I feel good.

[FM123]

1. Me too.

Everything you just said!

And today, I even saw Three Little Birds (not on my doorstep, lol) but 2 on the car in my driveway and 1 on my mailbox. It's a good sign and I feel good!

[lagomorph777]

2. I have had my first good sleep in four years.

I feel like a new person.

[ezgoingrl]

3. Me too

I went to work two hours early that day. I was already working at 4:00 am every day and I haven't slept decently since then, not even since it was called for Biden. I don't think I'm ever sleeping normally again.

[In It to Win It]

4. I remember waking up with so much anxiety. It took me a week to process that Trump had actually won

I wasn't worried totalitarianism and oppression. Not because I didn't think Trump would try it but I figured guard rails in place to prevent that sort of thing and I saw how fragile that was.

I did worry about a new war. I thought his rhetoric was so inflammatory that we could end up in a new war.

I thought all the progress we had made on banking regulations and environmental rules would be rolled back, which a lot were. I felt that we as a society have agreed after the 2008 recession that these certain set of regulations are reasonable.

I thought that he would do everything he could to stop the expansion of the renewable energy sector.

I thought he would spend too much time trying to bring back dying industries in the rust belt rather than promoting the investment and expansion of new industries in the affected areas.... which he did exactly what I thought he would do. SOMETHING THAT THEIR TAX LAW COULD HAVE ADDRESSED! They could have used fiscal policy (along with their tax cut mantra) to do so much good but they chose not to.

The tax law could have address the environmental issue as well incentiving a more sustainable economy overall along with incentivizing investment in the rust belt... but apparently they didnt have time for that.

I thought his rhetoric (not necessarily the idea) on China was too inflammatory considering the economic consequences. I'm a strong believer in coalition building and back up plans. I was not a fan of the "go at it alone" approach when it came to China. I'm of the opinion that China has become too big to tackle alone. He should have built a coalition of countries to tackle the issue considering a lot of them have the same grievances.