Election journey a wild ride

In just over five months, it seems I have lived a whole new life.
Running for regional council in my municipality in the election of 2010 was an amazing experience, filled with many ups, downs and in-betweens. I had to try and I firmly believed I was not only suited to the role, but it could have become my true calling, my next career move.
Alas, it wasn't to be and I finished a respectable second, earning 1,528 votes, a decent 23.39% of the vote (2nd in a field of 4). A total of 5,559 votes were cast in my town of Bolton.
This election was fraught with challenges and when they say small town politics can be weird, awful and dirty, boy were they right! Plenty of all three to go around.
My family was rock-solid in their support. My wife was my foundation and my campaign manager; my three kids beat the pavement with dear, old dad and my father-in-law walked more kilometres in two months than in the past 2 years!
I liken the experience to the most strenuous job interview imaginable! Knock on 8,500 doors, give your personal sales pitch to total strangers; write speeches and deliver those speeches at public debates attended by hundreds of people; hope and pray you don't do or say anything stupid and hope for the best. Spent many sleepless nights pondering the what-ifs and why-nots and what-abouts. Second guess yourself constantly.
I found the caliber of fellow candidates to be quite high and they all something to offer. I met some great people and I hope some will remain my friends.
This competition was unlike any other contest of human strength and stamina. It tested everything you have and everything you are. For adrenaline junkies, it's strangely addictive.
We all longed for the end, but of course we all longed for victory. There can be only one per seat!
After the election, I was flooded with emotions and came crashing down. I spoke some fellow candidates and we were somewhat lost, wondering just how to fill those hours and how we would ever return to "normal."
Maybe we won't. But that's not a bad thing.
Life won't ever be "normal" after such a journey.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!