I write this down not for the world to see and appreciate, but for me to vent my pain and sufferings down on paper to get a breath of relief and make my heart a little less heavy.
So what's new? Well it's the last day of the year 2018 and tomorrow we all start a new page, a new year. As I look back over the years (since my last post), there as been much more sorrow in the world, much more senseless conflict and more voice have muted than before. The powerful have kept marching on with their agenda and countless innocent lives have continued to be lost while the media, again, has mainly focused on other non-issues.
But something has changed in my life as well. In the past I would always focus on the gloom and tragedy of things however since that I've also started to look at the good that's happening around me. There will never be enough good, but their "is" good so it's very important to recognise it and embrace it. This is a good lesson for myself that in the bleakest of hours, hold on to hope that things will get better. Google's 2018 Year in Search is a great example of what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aFdEhEZQjE
The topic I choose was "where are we heading, what are we leaving behind".
Unfortunately in 2018 we're leaving behind a lot of destruction, hate, lies and pain. From the ongoing wars in Syria, Yemen to the continues conflict in Palestine/Gaza, to the religious extremism around the world and leader appointed truly based on lies....it's not been a good picture. The world has gotten too comfortable with lies being told by our leaders, our media and too much beating around the bush going on. We should have talked about real issues impacting real lives but a lack of prioritisation meant we focused on the wrong things.
Take Yemen for example: It's been ravaged by war for the last 2 years and honestly no one gives a damn. People are more interested in US politics around the globe. It takes me back to the root cause of why I started to write...because "all life is not equal" which is the crust of what's wrong with our world these days. We need to take a step back and remember that at the core of it, we're all humans and we should feel the hurt of others because we share this bond called human beings.
The inequality of life styles also keeps on progressing. Though we are seeing more and more people come out of poverty, get jobs and all (which is great), the pace of that is very slow. It's a small world we live in, we need to find smarter ways of using one country's excess resources and share them with less privileged people and countries. There is good progress going on within cities on this but we need to find a way to take it global.
With 2019 arriving tomorrow, I think I have hope for a better year. One that sees less conflict, less inter tangled lies, one that allows us to feel for each other and find similarities in each other rather than differences. A year that allows our leaders to do what's right for the people and not for themselves and then at a macro level, a year in which we individually focus on ourselves to be a better human being (which is where it all starts).
I wish I can do more for those in need. I'm privileged to have what I have and I know others are not. This lack of balance is deliberate so that we as humans can balance it out. In 2019 I have hope, hope that we as a society will focus on the core issues of Health, Education, Well being and can invest in that. There is no plant or tree that grows to it's full size just like that, you need to start with just 1 seed and that's what we need to do. We need to invest in our future. This is not a quick fix, it's a long innings.
Thank,
Adeel
