America is deeply divided. Here’s what you can do.

You, Mr. Speaker, I yield my time and my New Year’s resolutions to a proud but wounded nation, the United States of America, the country I love, needs rehab and second chances far more than I do now. You should know that I don’t take this action lightly. I engage in my share of bad behavior, and I’d really like to correct some of that. There are also plenty of bad habits I need to break. I could use some of those resolutions to fix what’s broken in me, but the United States and specifically my fellow Americans are in much worse shape. We just suffered through another brutal and divisive election year that revealed a terrible truth. We hate each other. Okay, maybe not hate. That is, after all, a harsh word. So maybe we just have a very strong dislike for one another. At the very least, we have run out of patience for each other. No one is in the mood to suffer fools, it seems. And we all think the other side is over populated with fools as we draw the curtain on the first quarter of the 21st century, it occurs to me that Americans don’t really know each other all that well. There are many reasons for this. We’re not often straying outside our comfort zone. We’re not mingling with one another or seeking out different points of view to grow in wisdom and perspective. In fact, quite the opposite. Disagree with us and we’ll cancel you. We are not listening to each other. We don’t care much what our fellow citizens are going through. We lack kindness and compassion and empathy. We’re losing our interpersonal skills. We refuse to bend or adapt or compromise. We are quick to ascribe evil motives to one another, but slow to forgive slights. We hold grudges. We don’t communicate very well. The hour is late, but all is not lost. If America works hard at it, she can still to borrow a phrase, make herself great again. That is if Americans resolve to do three big things. One, be humble. Most of us are lucky to have the lives we have. We were born on third base when our birth took place in this country, migrants and refugees, by the millions, risk everything for a shot at having even a cheap imitation of what we have, we need to try to put ourselves in the shoes of others and appreciate the view from there two be open minded. We’re unshakably confident of our position on the issues of the day, even when we’re wrong. In an era where everyone has a soap box or podium, we’ve convinced ourselves that our opinions are the only ones that are valid. We need to learn to think differently and see things from another point of view. Number three, be honest. We need to accept the truth about what ails our country or will never be able to improve it. We don’t like to take responsibility for mistakes. We’d rather cast ourselves as victims of everything from trade deals to foreign workers to diversity initiatives to media bias. We need to stop lying to ourselves and accept reality as it is. America, you can do this. You’ve conquered the frontier, industrialized the Midwest and built up the Northeast. You’ve assimilated many waves of immigrants over the last 250 years, you’ve survived the great depression and won two world wars. You’ve put a man on the moon and you’ve put smartphones into the hands of millions of people all around the world. The next great round of challenges will revolve around how Americans treat other Americans. There is no great foreign threat anymore. All our remaining demons will be internal. It’s scary to think about. I know it’s like a horror movie, and this time, the phone call is coming from inside the house.