ADAM OLSEN -- When we win, do others have to lose? How do we handle the political outrage flowing freely and super-charged by social media platforms? How are we managing?
One of the primary realizations I've made in my brief time in provincial politics is how easy it is to slip into an unhealthy lifestyle. Without careful attention to my overall fitness, personal well-being quickly gets lost in the background noise. There is a lot of background noise. Winning is the focus of partisan politics ... not winning together, but winning at someone else's expense. There is an intense competitive desire to politically tear each other apart, rather than lift each other up. Constituency work can also be heavy. It's difficult to hear stories of your fellow citizens who have fallen through the cracks and know that political calculations, not compassion, are primary factors driving of the decisions to fix or ignore the problem. This job ages you. It's hard on personal relationships, emotionally draining, creates a spiritual void and is mentally taxing. All of this can manifest in poor physical health and it affects how we g...