We lost big and must face the consequences of the loss.

Those who won were clear about their intentions on a whole host of union and progressive achievements. Whatever issues or considerations convinced the electorate to vote as so many did, perhaps far removed from tangible issues and policies, their course of action now puts us on a collision course with them.

At risk are those hard-won gains in which we take such pride: health care, voting rights, minimum wage, collective bargaining and so much more.

Pundits analyze the factors contributing to the campaign that so many of us misjudged. For now, my focus is on us. As we process the shocking results of Election Day, it is important for us to regain our moorings with clear thinking.

We spent a year and a half doing what this union does best: political and social activism. How could we have done otherwise; it’s in our DNA as good unionists, educators and health care providers. We saw the worth in attempting to play our part in bringing about the best of all possible worlds.

Since last January we sent hundreds of volunteers out across the country for two-week assignments in battleground states; took bus trips for door-to-door canvassing; manned phone banks to reach voters in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and elsewhere.

It is hard to think of anything we could have done differently in promoting social, economic and political justice. So, while the natural tendency is to question whether we did enough, I think we went above and beyond in our commitment to activism.

Why did we rouse ourselves to do these things? In one of William Butler Yeats late poems, he stands at his doorway speaking to a band of irregular soldiers. He longs to be with them in their ventures but also longs to go back inside to his comfortable cottage. Many of us feel that push/pull in our retirement. We are committed to both action and repose. A crushing loss exacerbates that dynamic. But since we are who we are, in turn we do both.

This union will learn to navigate the coming political battles. We are committed to preserving our earned benefits such as defined benefit pensions, health coverage, professional and economic security and a century of creating a social safety network. We know Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and public education are in the cross hairs. The bad guys never go away and now, in their moment of ascendancy, it will take all of our energy and renewed strength to fight back when the push for privatization once again rears its head.

The Supreme Court will no doubt take up Friedrichs-like cases with the aim of gutting union and public employee rights. All this and more.

Where will we get the energy and resources to once again enter the fray along with all the other good guys? Voltaire’s Candide went all over the globe pursuing the best of all possible worlds. Adventures, misadventures, joys and catastrophes were doggedly met till finally he wound up home in his own little society. When all hands tried to figure out whether all those efforts had meaning, Candide advised “… let us take care of our garden.”

In the face of a big setback, each of us must determine what he or she must take care of. To me, the garden is small and large. It stretches from a classroom to the broad union and from there to a broader commitment to social justice — and political activism.

We can allow ourselves to spend some time reflecting, but then we have to get back to work.