Hope is alive

By Kenrick Quashie

These days, it seems like everything is coming at us in extremes. When the sun comes out, it does so with a blazing heat. When it rains, it pours. So too when life hits us with problems, it is as if the problems come from all directions. And when there is joy, it can be so overwhelming.

Politically, each party presents its plan with such exuberance and hope while rubbishing the other’s as fraught with problems and doomed to fail.

Despite all of the scenarios above, life continues. I remember once the great Ole George responded that he is “left and right” when I greeted him with “Are you all-right”? That is life! It gives us ups and downs and we must learn to manoeuvre its journey regardless of which side of the spectrum we are encountering.

Whenever I hear about suicide, I conclude that the society has failed the victim. For someone to get to the point where he/she thinks that there is no hope in a situation being faced—no one from whom to seek consolation, no one to provide hope …. is a very sad state. Aren’t we all our brother’s keeper? In our community, are we not somewhat responsible for each other and how we live or do not live?

This year has been quite a journey. It changed the world. It almost feels like it’s the year 2000 (Y2K) when we all anticipated the devastating effects of the millennium bug that was spoken about.  I remember how fearful I was when that year (2000) was approaching.

As we draw close to the end of 2020, many of us reflect on the year. We also take the time to ponder about and plan for 2021.

Many thriving businesses started and blossomed in the Great Depression and many failed. The same happened in recent Global Economic Recessions. The difficulties of COVID-19, adverse policies of the government and organisations such as WTO, among others, in respect to local and international solutions to problems and the negative attitude of a small cross-section of people in our community are still not sufficient reasons for us to stop trying to make things better. Maybe, it is in this type of environment that our ideas will flourish and better solutions can be derived.

At 18 years, fresh out of SVG Community College I started my first “official business”. It was the first Internet Café called Ken-Net Kafe in Georgetown. Since then, I have and continue to explore different business ventures. 

As a society, we need to demystify failure. The failure of one’s venture be it academic, technical, business, social or whatever is not a failure of the person. In my own lifetime, I have had to deal with many failures. I have come to realise that the downs are also part of the journey in life — they teach us valuable lessons. We do not always experience successes and joy. At times, there is sadness and pain but we keep pushing.

Life is our greatest asset. While we have it, ensure that it is of good quality. At the top of a good quality life is not wealth — it is good health. For what is wealth if you don’t have good health. Therefore, let’s treasure this asset. Sometimes we can be so caught up in our daily responsibilities or making a dollar that we disregard our health. Eventually, there comes a time when the treasures we chased cannot be enjoyed because of poor health (mental and physical).

It’s Christmas! Whether or not we believe in the origins, it is an opportunity to embrace the joys that come with it; the giving and celebrative mood. Do something nice for yourself. Do good for someone — perhaps that vulnerable child in the community, that family you know is facing much difficulty—help them!

It has been a rough year for all of us. Engage in something therapeutic.

Have a very merry Christmas season!

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