Well, hello, my friends, and welcome to Live Inspired with John O'Leary Monday Morning Moments, Election Monday, baby.

We got an election in about 24 hours, so I thought I'd share some good news to begin your week and

your election week on fire and in awe with a burst of inspiration. Let's roll into it. Although

the election is just a day away, the tense divisiveness within the country will require far more

time to heal. Regardless of which candidate wins, the general unrest, the social injustice, and the personal

anxiety will continue to be felt.

In the midst of this fractious season, I'm reminded of witnessing an alternative possibility

at a burn camp for children decades ago.

While there, I was reminded of the transformational possibility

of coming together to heal wounds,

to unified differences, and to aspire to true greatness.

My friends, as excruciatingly painful as burns

and bandage changes and therapy might be, physical pain can be

masked with drugs, it can be endured with grit, or it can be overcome with time.

The far greater challenge for survivors is the emotional pain of the trauma.

It is the agony of completely losing who we thought we once were

and what physically defined us, and then the challenges of accepting the scars we now bear

and the person we've unwillingly become. It's the affliction of entering rooms and feeling

the stairs from others, hearing whispers from curious children, and the inevitable

shushing, shh afterwards from their parents, quietly telling them, sh, don't point. The pain is often

being observed by others as being different, or being less than than or being seen as being broken.

And it's the anguish of finally leaving that room and returning to the safety of our own home,

...