Have we forgotten our New Year’s resolutions already?

We are now entering our third week of the New Year. How are our resolutions going to date? Have we forgotten them? Are we determined to make 2012 a better year or will it be just as last year or even worse? Folks, it’s really up to us.

For the past several years you have read my rants about the many things we can do to help ourselves and the acres of diamonds we have under our feet. Unfortunately some of us still are not listening or not believing this. We keep insisting that help will come from outside.

We seem to be waiting for a horde of foreign investors to swoop upon us with bundles of money and save us. We also dream of thousands of tourists overflowing with pockets of money flocking to Saipan, ready to empty them in the casinos. From that activity we know that all will be right with the CNMI. After all, isn’t pandering to the baser emotions of people always lucrative?

However, what if we were to develop certain industries to produce various items? What if we were to cultivate our land with a plow and allow it to bear an abundance of fruits and vegetables? What if we were to glean fish from our oceans? Would any of these activities help restore us to prosperity? What if we were to export these items to, say, Guam or some other country and import much needed money? Does this sound reasonable or undoable?

Frankly speaking, I am running dry with preaching the same ideas over and over with little results. Frankly speaking, if some of us refuse to believe that true progress can only be made from our own efforts, I will still create these activities with the help of the few that believe. I will not give up preaching this message because there are people in the CNMI willing to work hard to achieve economic stability. We will hope that as some of us succeed, more of us will join in this movement until we realize that we can help ourselves. With the advent of the New Year, we can either keep the status quo or look ahead and work toward better times.

We cannot blame our leaders for what they are doing or not doing. Even if we elect new people to govern us we must still take control and demand changes. Remember, politicians are always worried about their jobs as we are about ours. So they will cause no friction that could unseat their positions. This is seen daily. They know as well as we the situation we are in. But will any of them risk controversy even when they know that the system is wrong?

Let’s refresh our memories about some people who have changed the society in which we live by their perseverance even if it meant death to them. Jan. 16, 2012, Monday, we will celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a national holiday. He is most famous for his speech “I have a dream” delivered on Aug. 28, 1963. Over 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. when he uttered the immoral words:

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

In his entire career Martin Luther King, Jr. championed to abolish racial discrimination against black people. Today we pay tribute to him as the man who never abandoned his belief in the struggle to bring equality among blacks and whites. In the end he was killed for his beliefs. Please read more about him today. His great impact has made the United States a better nation.

Another giant of a man is Nelson Mandela, the South African political activist. Though imprisoned for 27 years, he never gave up his determination to free his country from oppression. He even became the first freely elected president of South Africa.

Here are the names of several others who have created milestones despite hardships, misunderstandings, and great sacrifices. Hopefully they will remind us that they were just like us trying to survive but saw an injustice and spoke out against it. They chose to fight for their beliefs. As a side note, would you fight vigorously to maintain your religious beliefs if challenged?

The people listed below were determined against all odds to succeed. Eleanor Roosevelt was a powerful voice on behalf of a wide range of social causes, including youth employment and civil rights for blacks and women.

Consider the unknown young man who stood before a column of tanks near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. He became a great defender of peace.

Amelia Earhart, the first female aviator to cross the Atlantic on her own. She always followed her instinct.

Mahatma Gandhi was a great thinker, statesman and nationalist leader. He not only led his own country to independence but also influenced political activists of many persuasions throughout the world.

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan Buddhists. Though in exile he still is serving his people.

Mother Teresa was the founder of missionaries of charity in India. Her devotion to the poor and oppressed is world-renowned. She saw the squalor and suffering of the Indian people and tried to help. A true saint.

The above are only a few names to help us believe in ourselves also. All of the above wept many hours of tears, suffered loneliness and depression. But the spirit in them never wavered. Think if they had caved in to outside influences and fears. There have been and are today thousands of people just like us who see the need to improve their society and dedicate their lives to improving it. Where would we be today had they wavered and quit when the going got tough?

Let us read some quotes that will help us understood our self better. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

Al Capp, the great cartoonist remarked: “Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work.”

The Dalai Lama has stated: “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from our own actions.”

Thomas A. Edison wrote: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Thomas Jefferson told a friend: “I’m a great believer in luck and the harder I work the more I have of it.”

As you also have noticed in all my writings, I never try to criticize any man or woman in what and how they are performing their duties. My main objective is to stress that we as a group or as an individual can make major improvements in our society. To whine or simply complain is a cop out. We must get off our buts (excuses) and do it!

All of the things I have been writing about over the years boil down to one thing: Nations create their own destiny. It is never given to them. Their input determines their status in the league of nations. Individuals create their own prosperity and happiness. It is never given to them. Their input also determines their status. Simply put, if we are not willing to get our hands dirty and sweat on our brow, God help us. We are doomed to a life of mediocrity.

Keep smiling! If we cannot do anything else well, we can carry a big smile to share with each other. Have a great week!