So, you’ve been elected.

You campaigned on what you believe and what you feel are the beliefs of your new or old constituents. You came out victorious with a keen eye on making better the lives of those you now represent.

Making America better.

Now what?

A good start is becoming the adult in the room.

Politicians, when stumping and campaigning, are really good at using phrases that start with “The American people …” They use them in phrases like, “The American people are tired of (insert issue here)” or “The American people just want (insert another issue here).”

And yet what we’ve seen over the months and years leading up to this particular election are politicians making these assertions and suddenly becoming blind to what ALL of their constituents want. They struggle to keep up with what they’ve said by falling into the partisan war that is gridlocking government all the way from the White House down to the Main Street coffee house.

With midterms over, it’s now time to get to work, and by getting to work we don’t mean hold press conferences or fire off baseless claims that start with either “Liberals say,” or “Republicans say.”

Don’t you look at the world around you and think, “That’s enough?” If not, you should.

It was announced this past Friday that employers added 250,000 jobs in October and raised average pay to the highest it has been in a decade. Marching alongside that, the unemployment rate remained at a five-decade low of 3.7 percent.

That’s great news. It means the economy is strong, continuing a trend that started with President Barack Obama and continues through President Donald Trump.

President Trump would have you believe he’s solely responsible, but according to an Associated Press article Friday, October marked the 100th straight month of hiring.

But it doesn’t matter. It’s still something the president can tout as a success. Something he can take on the campaign trail, something he can show to Americans and be proud of, but instead the president insists on preaching to his base about the dangers of a migrant caravan three months away from the border and dwindling.

This is just one indicator of a larger problem. We, as a nation, have taken our eyes off the larger prize. Things like a strong economy are being hidden by pettiness and hate-stoked by politicians who treat the political stage more like a playground fight.

There is so much important work to do. There is immigration reform, true and honest tax reform, and failing infrastructure. We continue to struggle with racial and LGTBQ equality.

These issues and many others are not getting the attention they deserve because as a nation we would rather exchange barbs and memes on Facebook than get actual work done.

We need new ideas, new pathways to success that reflect the true values of America.

The midterms are over, but let’s not kid ourselves. We will all launch full stride into the presidential election in 2020. That’s two years to inform ourselves, two years to make a difference, and two years to act like the grown-ups we claim to be.

Congratulations, you’ve been elected.

Now, what are you going to do about it?