By Georges Rochegrosse (1859-1938) – artAdam Cuerden

I am slowly getting out of the “Trump depression” and looking towards the future. Trump’s victory has reminded me how terribly depressing it is when something you strongly disagree with wins and dominates the news. We are living this in Slovakia with our government and such situations are common around the world. Whether it is Brexit, the rise of the far-right in Europe, immigration, closing of borders, and others – it is easy to lose hope and start looking towards exits and escapes. It feels like Don Quichotte fighting windmills – seemingly with no chance of victory and just wasting time. So much progress has been made only to be set back again and again.

It is at this precise point that you need to remind yourself your core values and beliefs. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, ebay’s CEO Devin Wenig and other leaders have come out asking their teams to take heart and trust in their north stars. Barack Obama has invited Trump to the White House and gave an encouraging, graceful and unifying speech, which I highly recommend.

I am reminded that over 56 million people voted for Hillary – 200k more than for Trump actually (popular vote). So more than 44% of voters clearly disagree with him and what he represents – and that is a great base to grow. We have tools, institutions and people in place to check the politicians that lead our nations – and we need to believe in the fundamental principles of democracy and liberal progress. We may have forgotten about a segment of the population left behind by the “new world order” – yet that lesson has now been painfully learned. Progressive thinking has been dealt a bloody nose not stomped to death. Now more than ever it is important to have our voices heard – whether in the US, in Europe and all around the world where progress is badly needed. So take heart – you are not alone.