This prompt comes from The Daily Post. Each day they post a new prompt. It really helps get the creative juices flowing. Check them out for yourself. You might find just the inspiration you’ve been looking for.

On the rare occasion I am invited to a social gathering I can almost bet I’m going to hear someone talk about how awful our governing system is and how badly we need improvement.

I usually follow up that statement with “Did you vote to change it”? (My brusque demeanor is why I’m assuming I don’t get invited often)

The answer I usually get after I have asked this question is No. Then I get the explanation that voting doesn’t count anymore and as one person there isn’t anything he/she can do about it.

I absolutely detest this defeatist philosophy.

Is it fair to say that your vote doesn’t matter? In some ways yes, yes it is. In light of the blatant political corruption we have faced during the current primary period, I think it is fair to assume it doesn’t matter. BUT, and yes there is a huge but to this ideology, you should vote anyway. By registering and showing up to vote your very presence is the first step to change. You must show that you’re paying attention. You must show that you aren’t going to stand idly by and blithely act as though nothing is happening.

That’s the first step. To show that you are, indeed, aware.

Follow that up with rallies and signs in your yard. Go to protests. Blow up social media with your discontent.

Your voice will wake another and theirs another and so on until its deafening. You can do something about it. If you wait for someone else to do it then no one will.

We all have our motivations for why we want change. This is the time to do it. This is the time to hold our ground. This is the time in history that is our own. We have the power to shape it as we choose. So, choose wisely.

One day you will have to explain why you stood up or why you sat down.