Personally I have never been a fan of politics on any platform. However, the politics of life seem to be getting more and more out of hand today.

The politics of life not only refer to the activities associated with leadership in our world government but also in our own city government. This includes our workplace politics, church politics and even the politics of everyday life.

I can honestly say that I have always hated politics with a passion, mainly because I have seen way too many pursue their own selfish agendas with no regard to how it will affect everyone else. In fact, I have seen many leaders fall when they put more emphasis on what they want than what the people need.

I do know there is a true purpose for politics. That purpose is to enable certain members of society to collectively achieve important goals that they couldn’t achieve individually. However, these members must always be thinking about what is best for the people they serve, whether nationally or locally.

Unfortunately, in our world today, you don’t see many who are looking out for the better good as a whole. In fact, it seems that after leaders become voted into positions of power they often don’t back up their promises made to the public who put them there in the first place. Rather than caring about the greater good of the people, they often work around agendas that better themselves.

So what do we do to become better citizens and get involved with politics that affect us on a daily basis?

First, we need to pay attention to what is going on around us. This isn’t just what you see or read on social media. Subscribe to your local newspaper and read facts for goodness sake. Local papers will inform you on matters that affect your area – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Then identify issues that concern you and attend town hall meetings, city council meetings and school board meetings. Get an up-close view of what’s important to your city’s legislators and school board. If it concerns you then voice your concerns in writing or during meetings when citizens can comment.

Also know who your local legislators and politicians are and how to reach them. Every year in our Focus magazine we try to list these political people along with their numbers so if you have a problem you can reach out to them with your concerns. We also do an extensive layout of their political views that takes us weeks to prepare and put out ahead of the polls so you can choose who you really want to represent you.

Often political parties hold rallies and meetings to get to know these politicians and ask them questions prior to voting them in. But the thing is – you have to show up to know what might affect you in the long run. Don’t vote blindly.

It really doesn’t matter what you’re dealing with, whether it’s church politics, workplace politics, school politics or city politics, if you want to know how they affect you – get involved! Don’t just complain on social media, get off your butt and go to these meetings! I go regularly to these meetings and I only see about 10-15 people from the public each time. Occasionally at a town hall meeting I might see more people, but seriously it’s not even a drop in the bucket compared to our town population.

So I guess my point is – the politics of life do stink, but unless you read up and square up with what’s going on in your world and in your neighborhood, you really have no reason to complain because in reality you are part of the problem. You don’t get involved until there is a problem and by then it’s too late. The bomb has already dropped.

However, hopefully you decide to do something differently. Maybe taking an hour or two out of your month to attend these meetings will help you better understand your world and why we cover it because we think it matters. Maybe then we can all work together to make our world, our towns, our workplaces, our churches and our communities better for everyone.