Today is Election Day. Mid term elections as they’re called, since the presidency isn’t at stake this time.

What is at stake, however is the future of how this nation will look in the years to come.

We are voting for each and every member of the House of Representatives. And there are 34 Senate seats to be decided; that’s 1/3 of that side of Congress.

Why should we vote? And why should we care?

Because if we don’t make our voices heard, others will. And those others can decide how the next two or more years of our nation will be run. You think it isn’t important?

It is, because our freedoms are at stake more than any time in recent years. There are people running who are promising to try and dismantle some of those freedoms because they don’t agree with them. But if you disagree with those running and don’t make your voice heard, or those who are already in office and trying to get re-elected, then don’t complain about how things happen.

Because if you don’t make your voice heard, your apathy doesn’t give you the right to complain. Yes, it’s only one vote, but if thousands thought like that and decided their vote didn’t count, think about the difference that makes. Apathy elects candidates as well.

Elections have consequences, and it’s more important than ever to go out and vote today and make your voice heard. I may not vote for the same candidate you do, but you have just as much right to vote for your candidate of choice as I do. And you need to do that.

You wouldn’t want to let someone else decide where you’re going to live, or where you’re going to work, or where you’re allowed to go?

Then why would you let someone else decide how your country is run, and who makes the laws that affect your everyday life and the lives of your children and grandchildren?

Our forefathers fought and gave their lives to give us the right to exercise our rights to have a say in our government by voting. In many other countries there is no such right, or if there is, it’s a sham, controlled by the government so that the people have no choice of candidates. Some countries have even killed those who had the nerve to go vote.

I remember the first time I voted, and how excited I was to finally be able to actually have a say in our nation’s government. And I have missed very few elections in those 50+ years. I believe it’s a right and a privilege too important to miss.

So please, sometime today, go cast your vote. No matter what the election deniers would have you believe, your vote does count. It’s valuable. And it’s important.

I’m voting. Are you?