Happy New Year 2023 – this year is your year!
A new year brings us the opportunity to evaluate our life, our situation, and our mistakes. We plan a new approach forward based on our learning and experience. Only a fool continues to do the same and is shocked when they get the same results. Change is needed, change is welcome – change is essential.
People struggle with change for it upsets their equilibrium and creates fear - this is understandable for change can bring new threats, as well as benefits. People also struggle with implementing change because it seems overwhelming - so give up and accept defeat.
The trick is to bring about managed change – not chaotic change. Our lives are in constant change, you can either be a victim of it or the master of it. Crossing a road is dangerous, people are knocked over every day – over 1600 people lost their lives on the roads of the UK in 2021. Just because people die does not stop us from crossing the road, or negate the benefits of looking left and right as we cross. If we wish to cross the road then we must manage this change in the safest way and reduce the risk by taking precautions. Bad things can still happen for a drunk person driving at 90 mph on the wrong side of the road may ruin your life. Risk is always present – but if you see it coming you are in a better position to avoid it.
On the flip side of change is opportunity - this is the trade-off we hope to make when embracing change. My life changed after I was cancelled but this tragedy led me to marriage. When I was made redundant I set up a charity that helped thousands of kids and the homeless – it led to me being honoured with an MBE by our late Queen.
Sometimes the opportunity gained through change is small, but like compound interest on your savings account, it all adds up over time. Small changes today can lead to huge differences tomorrow. A better tomorrow should always be the plan – spending your energy improving today is a poor use of your resources on a task that will never end.
Remember the Boy Scouts' motto 'Be Prepared' – unfortunately, they were not prepared and allowed feminists to ruin the entire organisation.
What should you be prepared for this new year? No one knows for sure but some issues are so obvious that a blind man could inform us. The illegal migrant crisis is going nowhere fast until we stumble upon a government that has a vision for the country and a backbone – I see nothing of the sort on the horizon. The cost of living crisis will only deepen as world events highlight our country's lack of planning, incompetence and short-termism. Our lack of national strategic preparations for such foreseeable problems is shameful. We did not make hay while the sun shined – our politicians frolicked in the sun thinking the good weather would last forever.
Strong men produce good times, good times produce weak men, and weak men bring bad times. Where we are on this cycle is debatable.
The only chance we have of minimising the bad times that are on the way is to use the only power we have in our possession as citizens of a democracy – our vote. It may seem useless and insignificant, but it only feels that way because we have underused it for decades. It is time we unsheathed it, held it above our heads, and threatened the politicians with its use. We need to deliver a message right into the heart of Westminster and remind them that they are our servants, not our masters. It is glaringly obvious many have forgotten this aspect of democracy - we need to take responsibility for allowing this amnesia. A democracy always gets the government it deserves.
For us to deserve better then we must be better – as individuals and as a society. You are not the best version of yourself, I know this to be true for I am in the same situation. We expect better from others but not ourselves. This is a trait of a coward and is no way to live your life. If you are not your own critic then you are relying on others to point out your failings. How many of these people have your best interests at heart? Take responsibility now.
Assign yourself goals to show how much you can accomplish – success breeds confidence. Start using the word 'NO' when asked to do something you do not wish to do - only you have the power to compel yourself into action. Stop telling lies for they do not lead to a better tomorrow, even if they create a better today. Lying to yourself is the worst type of lie, it is a form of self-harm. We must live by a code otherwise our morality is meaningless.
As a man, your aim is to be the best protector and provider you can be for your family, community and country. Anything less is unbecoming of you.
As a woman, your aim is to be the best mother and nurturer you can be for your family, community and country. Anything less is unbecoming of you.
As a non-binary, trans, 2-spirited, gender non-conforming person, your aim is to be the best mental health patient you can be for your family, community and country. Anything less is unbecoming of you.
Our country has lost its way. We have rejected the social norms that have given us the most plentiful and comfortable lives ever to have existed in the history of mankind. The mistake was not the removal, but not understanding why we had them in the first place. Replacing a country's tidal defence with a new stronger system is perfectly acceptable. But dismantling these defences because you do not know what they are for is a recipe for disaster – maybe not today, but someday.
Traditions are the solutions to problems we do not remember.
It is never too late to change, to be better, or to take on new responsibilities. You are stronger than you realise, you are more competent than you give yourself credit for, and you are more formidable than you can imagine. Humans dominate the planet for a reason, and you are one of the eight billion reasons.
Look up at the sky this evening and find a bright shining star - a faraway sun that burns brightly until its demise. The light you see is millions of years old, you do not see it in real-time - there is a delay. Be that sun. Shine brightly.
Do not worry that people do not see you or your actions, for just like starlight, you will shine into the future and maybe the light for others to gaze upon for inspiration.
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