2015: Weird Year

Are we ready to remember 2015 or is it a year we prefer forgetting as quickly as possible given the natural and man-made mess we’re in today. The loss of loved-ones is especially devastating!

The year started with a superstorm pummeling the islands and closes with the loss of a governor while corruption, via the comforts of affluenza, spreads like stage four cancer in government. Affluenza is when politicians ignore the golden rules declaring, “we have money, we make the rules.” It’s a prompt trashing of people they represent. Call it self-destruction!

We feel orphaned as we quiz: what happens next? Is our future in sturdy hands or are we supposed to second-guess the tangled web created by incompetent public officials? Isn’t it time that “we the people” collectively reset our buttons responsibly?

The deepening fiscal mess coupled by a rookie chief navigator who has never sailed a canoe leaves the query: what’s our collective future? How sure is this journey manned by crewmembers that don’t know what a paddle looks like or couldn’t care less that the sail is in shreds? It’s one tough and rough sailing hence.

Mired in uncertainty, about the only certainty we find in our 2016 Basket is uncertainty. This while we take stock of stagnant wages and salaries dragging us through the vicious streets of uncompromising hardship. Is there at least a faint of hope in hopelessness? Would there be strides in the provision of significant solutions driven measures to ease hardship at home or would the reverse be a more realistic expectation?

Sen. Arnold Palacios offered retarded pitch about policies impacting the future of the NMI. Is he talking of his dilly-dally bid fronting for BSI? We’re not as dumb as we look, sir! Struggling to sound professorial doesn’t make you one either!

Sure, let’s give the shift in “solutions driven” team a chance to flex their muscles. Realistically though there’s no room for muscle flexing and not when a waterless well is empty! Some creative method of financing may be in order to pay for expenses that increase annually by leaps and bounds. Solutions driven would be put to a real test in how it disposes of matters of state. I still can’t fathom fourteen years of toxic republican bankrupting of the NMI. What legacy!

As the imperial Capital Hill tandem reassesses the useless empty well in the middle of the desert we muddle along picking scorched grass leaves and roots on the ground. It may not be the tasty and nutritious food we’re used to but where necessity dictates there really isn’t much of a choice. Hope useless platitudes isn’t the order of business moving forward. Have heard and seen it all where it satisfies the ego of politicians who are confused with what to make of issues before them.

Difficult as may be

The difficulty we face hence isn’t cause for celebration of any sort. This is where collective experience and wisdom are needed to plug holes or place firewalls around the building of the NMI treasury.

It’s an issue is in the palm of our hands. It requires real leadership not confused airheads whose only agenda is to inflate their ego as they collect more green bags and vouchers to cover their expenses. This would have to change forthwith!

The bloated public sector payroll must be brought under control. Give taxpayers a chance to take home more of their fully earned income. It’s high time that we the taxpayers seriously question ill-fated disposition of our taxes. We must proactively demand explanations how imperial Capital Hill spends our money given fourteen years of stagnancy in wages and salaries! Si JR.

The beautiful sunset

The colorful sunset started dimming across the horizon as I take my seat along the peaceful shores for my personal retreat. I watched the night skies turn dark hoping for slow glitter of a million stars. But the evening turned into a somber and starless night. Well, can’t win `em all.

It didn’t stop my pacing the shore humming “My Isle of Golden Dreams.” Not sure why the melody. The chorus says in part, “I hear the voice of my land, calling me it seems, my fair Hawaiian Islands, my isle of golden dreams.” It’s a tune of longing of home away from her shores.

Perhaps I must have strayed off my spiritual commitment of the ultimate isle of golden dreams. Must revisit it. Like a half-full cup I need to refill it so I could secure calm and tranquility no matter where I roam. What uplifting experience dropping my spiritual anchor once more.

You should do the same once a year. You’d be surprised by the health and other benefits that come from meditation in the purposeful realignment of our lives. Trust me. I’ve seen its grand benefits over the last six decades.

Along the way, it prepares us to be an ATV or All Terrain Vehicle as you deal with your own set of challenges. That you eventually build that sense of calm and patience grants you a more thoughtful approach to the heavier issues. A little dedication as this daily resetting of button turns second nature and calming too.

I sat facing the shallow waters listening to tiny waves crash land against the shore. It’s very calming. Then I heard white doves whistling in the heavens as they head home at dusk. Occasionally, I’d hear fish flip perhaps chasing smaller prey. The sound of the breeze, waves, birds and everything else was unique music and closure as I take my seat.

My meditation went well bringing home calm. It’s one more trip heading south along scenic beach road to bring closure to this day. Give this exercise a try. You’d be stunned at its benefits throughout the course of the year. I looked around and the sunset has finally said adios to another beautiful day in paradise.