THE Christmas holiday season is on us and it is that time of the year when we take stock of our fortunes and do a self-analysis and assess how we failed or how could have done better.
If we made progress at our salaried jobs we invite friends to express ourselves extravagantly in both word and deed and we shower our wives and friends with expensive gifts or we take them to that dreamy holiday at far-flung places.
And for many ordinary folks like you and I it is a give and take season, a time of the year when there are so many fabulous parties and events that are filled with sheer leisure.
These festivities seem to reach a climax on December 25 the annual festival when Christians and non-Christians alike commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ and of course there is the New Year that falls on the first of each January when skies are lit with fire-crackers that explode high in the night sky showering colourful fiery debris on the earth.
Bottles of sparkling wine, and even champagne for those with money, are popped open and beer and home-brews such as ombike, sikontini, and tombo flow freely and animals are slaughtered to usher in the New Year as revellers of all shades rejoice.
At the end of it all, resolutions that could change one’s marital status, see a change of job, a switch to another political organisation, or shed some weight, are made.
But like the adage old habits die hard, the so-called New Year’s resolutions often prove to be an exercise in futility as at the end of all this annual outbreak of partying, clubbing and meat eating only those with a strong resolve change for the better.
Those that see cash loans as their personal bankers sink deeper into debt, others hit the bottle with unprecedented vigour and so it goes on.
Unfortunately, this is the time of the year when some people through recklessness hasten their departure from mother earth by drinking and driving. Others simply become victims of this reckless lot on the roads.
Year in and year out, we seem not to learn from our mistakes or from those of others and as if our lives are scripted, we end up doing the same thing over and over again.
What with the raft of price increases on fuel and food prosperity eluded many people this year and the prognosis on the nation’s economy for next year is not any better.
January will be a hard month for many considering the hefty tuition and school fees to be paid, what with the costly Christmas celebrations or the many weddings that are already taking place as many people prefer December to tie the knot.
We urge our readers to be moderate in whatever they do because whatever savings they make now would come in handy – like an umbrella – during those rainy days in January. They say forewarned is forearmed, so heed this small but important advice that is for free.
Have a merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year.