Though it Would Be Easy, Giving Up Isn't An Option by Paula Glessner

I spent the morning listening to powerful speakers while watching the people’s march today. It was both inspiring and heartbreaking. What keeps me going is knowing, deep in my heart, that so many others feel the same as I do. Whatever happens next, I’ve chosen my side—the side of love and compassion, of empathy for every human being.

I wish I was wrong in this thinking, but I’m not going to lie; my heart still hangs heavy. I wake up every day with an ache that stretches deep into my soul, an anguish I haven’t felt in my lifetime. The United States, the place I’ve loved and believed in despite its flaws, feels as though it’s being methodically dismantled. It’s like watching a house of cards topple in slow motion, knowing you built part of it, knowing it could have stood stronger, knowing there are still good hands trying to steady it—but it’s being eaten away by greed and corruption.

The people steering this descent—the oligarchs, the fanatics—don’t care about anyone, not even the loyal voters who gave them power. They care about control, about wealth, about bending the world to their will while the rest of us crumble beneath their weight. The idea that these people could gut Social Security, destroy the environment for profit, or stoke division to keep us powerless—it burns in me like a fire I can’t put out.

And yet, despair is their weapon. They want us to give up, to believe the fight is futile. Some days, I feel so close to giving in, to thinking it’s easier to stop caring. But then I think about the people who’ve fought before me, who’ve faced impossible odds and still stood up because it mattered, because it always matters.I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know if our resistance will be enough to keep this country from falling into an abyss. But I do know this: even in the darkest times, when all feels lost, I can’t let myself believe that it’s over. It’s not in me to surrender. So I’ll hold onto whatever hope I can find and keep fighting, because that’s what they fear most—that we won’t give up, no matter how heavy our hearts hang.

(Originally posted on Reddit, January 18th, 2025)