Every end of year seems to bring about reviews and resolutions. We look back and examine what could have gone better. Then we forget everything, try to enjoy Christmas and on 31 December concoct resolutions for the following 12 months – starting the next day. Very much like one’s decision to start a diet tomorrow when confronted with a splendid banquet today!
We meet at Christmas-time, putting aside aggravations and misunderstandings. We are polite in the company of those who repeatedly ride roughshod on our rights and privacy during the year, or those who repeatedly show that they have a second agenda every time they speak to us other than at Christmas-time. To be honest, even during the festive season we have to be careful what to say and how to say it as we, in politics, many a time tend to be quoted out of context.
We are joyous with our family and with those who treat us as friends during the whole 365 days of the year, without any backstabbing or trickery. We promise ourselves to be so much the wiser during the next year and yet at the end of the following 12 months, we find ourselves in very much the same situation as the year before.
In actual fact, as years go by, one looks back and effectively a change in attitude occurs. Priorities, both in life as well as in ideals and dreams, change too. It is good to dream – insofar as such hopes can be achieved.
I, for one, have hopes too. However the realities of life make us compromise these – even if to a lesser extent.
Today, at 51, most of the things I dared to hope to accomplish in life when I was a young 21-year-old have been realised. I have been blessed, as most of us are, with my own good family, and with a greater extended family that joins forces when the horizon ahead goes dark, or when support is needed. I enjoy a group of friends that want friendship more than anything else. In truth, what was a simple life has become much more complicated. The higher you climb, the more the demands and constraints. My two best friends have gone away; my father when I was 21 and Michael some five years age. That is life.
Notwithstanding, there are new targets in life to be reached. I believe that if one does not have further aspirations in life, then most of the fun in living seems to peter away. Such targets do not have to be out of this world. Small niceties can also be special.
Since a busy life makes free time a rare accomplishment, finding more time for my wife and the family has become a top priority. I must add to this, right at the very top too, enjoying the friendship of my children and the love of my grandchildren. What amazes me is the realisation that having sought to be busy in life, both professionally as well as in politics, when you look back you see that, even if you have had a successful life, some of your priorities, even important ones, have fallen by the wayside, overtaken by events, which keep us away from the family and other true values of life.
Taking part in the political scene locally has its satisfactions – however the invasion of one’s private life tends to become more and more demanding.
Sometimes you start wondering how things have gone their own way. In a strange way it is another form of inflation. One which can be controlled but however very few have the courage to look it in the face and take a real stand and control it. Looking back, I find that being in politics has radically changed over the years. It is no longer a part-time exercise but one which demands practically full-time commitment together with a hefty dose of research, attention and dedication. One is thankful that our spouses and children accept this situation in life without much aggravation and fall in line with our dreams and aspirations.
One wonders whether there are any limits left. Now that the election is round the corner, church attendance has become a matter of strategy. Ideally one goes to church, enjoys the service and then returns home for a deserved cup of tea and cakes. That is now a matter of the past. Before and after church, the politician is delayed by constituents who request one thing or another. The pleasure of these small niceties of privacy has been lost to the voter trying to trade in his vote even on the church parvis. That is life in Malta and Gozo.
Let me return to Christmas and the New Year. This is my last article for December.
By the time you find my picture on this page again, Malta will be part of the Schengen Area and will have adopted the euro.
The Maltese lira will have lived off its last days and the new monetary regime will have become part of our life. Of course there will be hiccups in the beginning but, in view of the festive mood, let’s all face these with a pinch of salt and a smile, when a mistake in made in the calculations.
On the other hand we hope that those who today intend making a quick buck due to the changeover will make a serious New Year’s resolution not to.
Taking people for a ride can only bring about bad feelings. No one likes to be cheated.
My last resolution for next year, 2008, is that I shall be doing my best to ensure that the present government is returned to power in the forthcoming general election to administer this country of ours for yet another term. I believe that this is what the country deserves. My family needs it and my grandson demands it.
Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to all.
Tony Abela is Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of
the Prime Minister