Hoping for better days

Whenever the yuletide season comes along, people tend to dwell on the unfortunate moments which sadden us. Sometimes it may even supersede the good times which bring us joy.

Being an uncompromising believer in the guidance and love which the good Lord has shared for us all, I have followed a simple saying which my great uncle always offered as advice —do not respond promptly and angrily to those who try to be critical one way or the other. Take a few steps away for a day or two, analyse the comments properly, and your final thoughts will be closer to an appropriate solution.

This has been my thinking when it comes to following almost all sports in T&T, whether it is on the field, off the field and sometimes even the boardrooms of the stakeholders.

Can I humbly ask each and every one to cast aside the hardships which have retarded our progress, hurt our feelings, and oftentimes allow distasteful behaviour to invite anger?

Even in hindsight, I can still find possible solutions to our failures, search for corrective principles which may bring some level of sanity, and most of all, leave it all into the hands of the Good Lord.

Superficially, a poor performance on the sporting fields can be no more than simply a failed effort by those we support, or better still, recognise it was the superior ability of our opponents.

This time of year, let us shelve our moments of sadness to allow peace, happiness, family love and affection for friends and family, rather than lose our tempers or harbour hatred for those who caused the failure.

It is my wish that people who have caused our failures on the field will understand that our commitment to supporting our country and athletes is unconditional, regardless of the results. We can follow this in the year by making demands for improvement at future events.

The same is the case with our leaders. They have been given responsibilities when they volunteered to serve, and we hope and pray that they honour these responsibilities.

To the people of this country who have supported our sportsmen and women on the various fields be it national, regional or international competition, we sincerely thank you and hope that better days are ahead.

My family and I extend best wishes to each and every one in our nation. Please enjoy a holy and happy Christmas and bring to your families and friends the feeling which the birth of our Saviour usually offers.

To the parishioners of all churches, please have a wonderful yuletide season and may you enjoy health and success in the New Year.