Hehehehe… well what do you know! We’re alive! No doomsday prophecy (I told ya!) ended the world. Christmas Day has passed and now we have one last holiday to conclude the magical season – New Year’s!
It’s a time when people usually make resolutions about what they will change or do differently in the year ahead. But instead of personal aims and objectives, why not make a certain unified wish? And not just a wish but something we can work towards as a nation. I mean, instead of aiming towards a diet, a car, a promotion, why not look around you and see what needs to be changed? Aim towards changing the things that can be changed; aim towards working with others for the betterment of all.
Clean the city, maintain that environment, stop public swearing and fights, stop the open drinking and smoking, the public excretion, respect authority and the authority show honour in respect, work towards ending corruption, stop the abuse and violence in all forms, plant more trees and practice recycling, use and promote local produce rather than buy foreign goods, stop gossiping, practice road safety, report accidents, crimes and faults, stop unsafe sex, give children a nurturing environment, stop the defamatory music and don’t invite the repulsive artistes, support local arts, get involved in community projects, promote Guyana and practice patriotism, respect each other and think of others before yourself.
Perfect examples, where do I start? Where do you start? Where do we start?
We are One People. Not Amerindian, European, African, East Indian, Portuguese, Chinese – noooo, we are Guyanese, a unified race, sharing culture, life; all living in One Nation. One glorious nation that is ours, no one can take it away from us because it is who we are, our identity. One Nation that if divided will fall, One Nation that secures our borders from New River to the Takutu, to the Corentyne and elsewhere, One Nation that elects the ones we chose to lead us, One Nation recognised by the world as independent, sharing One Destiny. One drive, one focus, one aim to work with each other for the greater good, for something that will benefit all, a destiny that will mould our lives the way we want it. But what is our purpose? What is our destiny as a nation?
Many people forget the official name of this country, even some government records leave out the most important part – the Co-operative Republic of Guyana – a nation built on the principles of unity. We can work with each other in all aspects of life, share resources and assets among us, not want what our neighbours have, stop being ungrateful and wishing we were in other countries like the US, Canada, the UK, Barbados etc.
The grass may appear greener on the other side, but never forget, that grass has been trampled upon for years, while we have untouched forests. Our motive, our destiny as a nation should be to realise how fortunate we are, and be the change we want to see in society, work towards betterment not for you, but for us as a nation.
Let us not just make a New Year’s Resolution, let us make a Guyanese Revolution. (Jairo Rodrigues)
