Happy New Year
If you are reading this then the chances are that your 2016 has been better than many. Your house hasn’t been bombed and your celebrity life hasn’t been brought to an abrupt end.
This has been a year full of bereavement and change. Personally I’ve come to know the insides of more hospitals than I’d ever wish to, but I’m fortunate enough to see the people I’ve visited come home in better health than when when entered.
Others haven’t been so lucky and we’ve all experienced the collective sadness at seeing so many talented lives taken from us sooner than expected. It all started with Lemmy, then that poor gorilla and seems to have snowballed from there.
Many more grieve not for a loss of a person, but their way of life. However, they are not angry or saddened at the change in global circumstances. Rather that their nations, friends and neighbours don’t believe and act in a way they thought they did.
Apple boldly stated this year at their keynote: “Courage. The courage to move on and do something better for all of us” when announcing in June that they were removing he headphone jack. A much maligned announcement that has since been copied by Samsung and will become the norm across smartphones in the future.
This built on a quote from Muhammad Ali, another soul we lost this year, who said “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life”.
And it is courage that we will all need in 2017, Trump will be Inaugurated, Article 50 will be triggered and more things will change. However, we will will not be judged in the end by how cynical we can be or how funny our memes can be; rather what we do with the hand we have been dealt.
I’ve played a lot of cards in my time and I’ve probably lost more hands than I’ve won, but that’s never defined success for me. I win a cards because the skill of the game is to bet high when things are going your way and bet just enough to stay in the game when your hand is weak. Never throw your cards in, play the game and take your time.
This is a lesson for life not just the green cloth. Winners make the most of what they have and 2017 will deal everyone with more challenges, both personal and on the international stage. Have courage to make the most of your life and have a happy new year.
Peace be with you.
