Editor 's note : Donna Brazile , a Democratic strategist , is a political contributor for CNN . She also is the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee 's Voting Rights Institute , an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and founder of Brazile & Associates , a Washington-based political consulting firm . Brazile , who was the campaign manager for the Al Gore-Joe Lieberman ticket in 2000 , wrote `` Cooking With Grease : Stirring the Pots in American Politics , '' a memoir about her life in politics . Donna Brazile tells those in losing campaigns it will take weeks to readjust and for the world to appear normal . ( CNN ) -- As someone who knows from experience , I write this open letter to all staff members , volunteers and supporters of candidates who lost last Tuesday . No matter how much it hurts to lose a campaign , know that this , too , shall pass . The campaign is finally over , and you are exhausted and ready to transition to your new life or careers . But before you clean off your desk and throw away everything in the back seat of your car and the apartment you rented during the campaign , take a moment . Shake the hand of someone with whom you worked . E-mail a thank-you note to a person who helped get you through this long political season . In other words , exhale . Campaigns are not for the fainthearted . They are tough -- mentally , physically and spiritually . Once a campaign ends , an emptiness comes over you . You find yourself struggling to figure out how to become human again . Suddenly , you 're going to the grocery store , reading the entire newspaper instead of the clips , and , yes , speaking in complete sentences , not sound bites or barked replies . I know what it 's like to lose a presidential campaign or two or three . No matter how close the results ( Gore-Lieberman ) or wide the blowout ( Walter Mondale-Geraldine Ferraro and Michael Dukakis-Lloyd Bentsen ) , you 're in a state of emotional disrepair and in need of a home-cooked meal . Acknowledge your success . Think about the nonstop pace that you thrived in but would crush less hardy individuals . You lived for and met multiple deadlines . You essentially lived with the people you work with and , God bless you , you did n't kill them , though you probably picked up a few bad habits and gained more than a few unwanted pounds . Now you 're sitting at that desk and trying to figure out what to do with everything you 've accumulated throughout the quest to reach the city hall , the statehouse , Capitol Hill or the White House . No matter how hard you try to contain it , you 're both angry and sad . Try not to vent and point fingers . It only creates wounds , mostly self-inflicted , and worse , the candidate you believed in and gave your all for does n't deserve it . Just thinking back to 2000 still gets me upset . Once the Supreme Court ruled and Al Gore made his concession speech , I remember feeling lost and disillusioned . I was empty inside as if someone had used a vacuum cleaner and sucked out every bit of my passion for politics and public service . I had no idea what to do with my life . Nobody seemed interested in hiring me ; the taint from losing closed every door on which I knocked . For a while , I was convinced I would never be accepted again as a political operative . I had no life beyond politics and no idea how to spend my days or evenings . I did n't have a dog back then . I have one now . It was hard listening to the opposition announce members of the transition team who had just spent months beating us over the head . Worse , it was hard to go back to a house I had not lived in for almost a year . In fact , I have not unpacked some boxes from my life in Tennessee . It 's still too painful . I had no energy to start looking for work . I was obsessed with those chads : hanging , swinging and , my favorite , pregnant . Above all else , I did not want to quit fighting . I was angry over the election and the recount . Soon , I realized the world was going to move on , and I would be stuck in the past . The only people who understood my mood were former colleagues . Grieve . Mourn . Let it out . It 's like the death of someone close to you , except there 's no funeral to help bring closure , just more election analysis and pundits spewing out what you did wrong . Be gentle on yourself . It will take you weeks to readjust and for the world to appear normal . Let it be a period of self-reflection and trying to answer the unanswerable `` what ifs . '' But then let it go . In a world of nonstop campaigning , the next season starts now . Give yourself a gift . Rent videos and catch up on the movies you missed . Do n't read the front section of the newspaper -- they are full of the other campaign right now . Pick up a copy of People or US Weekly instead . Turn off cable and switch to the Sci Fi Channel -- snakes and flies are healthier than exit polls and demographic trend lines . Above all , call your family . Get back in touch with friends who do n't do politics for a living . Remember why you made the decision to give up your life in the first place . And remember this -- you 're one of the lucky few . You were on a team that made the effort . You fought the good fight . And you had a front-row seat to history . So forget wearing the loser label . The next team will snatch you up . Or you 'll decide to find some other adventure that fulfills your passion . Either way , know your efforts were never in vain . Congratulations to all the team players , the winners and nonwinners who fought gallantly until the end . Take it from an old-timer who still loves politics : You will rise again to fight the next battle . So go get yourself some much needed rest and arise in a few weeks renewed with the spirit of making a difference by serving a cause greater than oneself . Your country needs you . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile .
Donna Brazile says she knows what it 's like to lose a political campaign . She says campaigns are tough on your body , mind and spirit . Brazile : Now 's the time to acknowledge your success and get over it . She says the work campaign people do is vital and worth the effort .