New beginnings,old problems

By Renato Tibon

“He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; he who makes one is a fool.” – F.M. Knowles, noted painter

Like everyone else, I’m gathering up enough willpower to keep my list of New Year resolutions hold through the coming yearand not fizzle out before the first three months are over. I mean, why make a promise if we’re open to breaking it? Some sound advices include making those intentionssimple as to be doable,planning aheadand being realistic, keeping notes of successes and failures and not giving up all the while putting one’s self in charge. Easier said than done we say, and has there been anyone really who successfully kept their resolutions over the years and are now epitomes of godly virtues worthy of emulation, we ask?If such there be, let’s mark him well. I’ve been struggling with my 85 kg weight during the past ten years, each time hopelessly gaining instead and plateauing to my present 90. With a BMI of 32 and a waistline of almost 40, I could easily be a cardiologist’s nightmare. I had in mind following the “Keto” diet but since I can’t keep a separate menu from my family’s for pragmatic reasons, I may stick to a friend’s advice of a fasting regimen with only two full meals a day. Let’s see.

Do we always have to mark each new year as a starting pointfor doing things and conceding loss only as the year closes and promising all over again? At its worst, it would be delusory to aspire for something that our weak will power can hardly cope, like keeping our resolutions on track.As humans, we are imbued with a sense of purpose and the ability to stand every time we fall, although some of us, in our obstinacy, repeat the same tired formula hoping to get different results each time. As pundits say, if we repeat a guaranteed mistake, that’s stupidity; more than twice is insanity.

What happens is we may continually have new beginnings while old problems persist. Personal resolutions are one thing while those that concern society are repeatedly bypassed, rationalizing others are better than us and we are ill-equipped to meddle anyway. So we persist on ignoring the anti-littering ordinance and throw garbage indiscriminately reasoning there are street-sweepers and garbage collectors paid to do the job, until they pile up and become environment risks or pose health hazards. Government officials, too engrossed in amassing wealth at the expense of people’s taxes, provide palliative measures just enough for show and keep their hold to power through the next elections. Ignoring calls for reforms which are perceived to be politically-motivated, these officials use traditional patronage keeping apathetic voters, only too willing to trade their future for present needs, happy.Our economic managers may have kept government bureaucracy afloat but with the persistent overweening influence of oligarchs and rent-seeking interest groups whose clout could leapfrog to the next administration, the prospects are not so bright.

Still, we can approach the coming leap year, peacefully a day at a time, keeping our personal resolutions in mind and supporting those who are doing positive things for our community and country. Best of all, let’s keep faith in the Almighty’s providence, trusting that leaders He anointed may do their job, summum bonum, for the highest good.

In the January 1, 2020 message of His Holiness, Pope Francis for the celebration of the 53^rd World Day of Peace, he said, “Peace is a great and precious value, the object of our hope and the aspiration of the entire human family. As a human attitude, our hope for peace is marked by an existential tension that makes it possible for the present, with all its difficulties, to be “lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey”. Hope is thus the virtue that inspires us and keeps us moving forward, even when obstacles seem insurmountable.”

Here’s hoping for an abundant and peaceful 2020 for all of us.