It’s New Year’s Day 2014; a day many of us have spent a fair part of sending out wishes for things good to family, friends, colleagues… and even strangers. I am sure many of you also started the year determined to kick a habit, lose weight, be kinder, get fitter, change career, or whatever else you thought should be or should no longer be. I wish you all luck with the promises that have been mainly made to yourselves. I decided not to put myself under pressure and have not announced any New Year Resolutions. Have I even got one? Aha!!!

 Anyway, as 2014 rushed towards me last night, I reflected on how little has been achieved by those who gained power and privilege on the back of what can be seen as resolutions, only to then let down the hundreds of millions who believed and trusted them to be true to their words. As I thought of this, the words of Bob Marley in ‘Crisis’ (‘Kaya’ Album) came to mind…

   So – so – so much have been said, so little been done

   They still killin’ – killin’ the people

   And they – and they havin’ – havin’-a – havin’-a lots of fun –

   Killin’ the people, oo-yoo! – havin’ their fun!

   They just want to be the leader

   In the ‘ouse of the risin’ sun.

Well, put into context, here is how any of you breaking a New Year Resolution is seen by me:

  • Breaking a promise to live cleaner will never be as bad as failing to put effort into ensuring water supplies are safe by making them cleaner.
  • Failing to lose weight because you couldn’t eat less is not nearly as criminal as condemning others to having to make do with less and less.
  • Not achieving personal fitness goals because you cannot get into running should not be as much a bother as fostering a situation from which people feel they have to keep running.
  • Not getting your career a nudge because you hate applications does not warrant the shame that should go with millions not having careers because of failures in policy and strategy applications.
  • Not being able to give more to charity does not make you as bad as the people whose actions force others to need charity.

So my Facebook friends, here’s wishing you all the very best for 2014; including luck with your resolutions. Meantime, I hope many of the people who at Nelson Mandela’s Memorial Service got their names prefixed with his excellency, the honourable, and all that rot, will at least pursue excellence when it comes to the promises they made and keep making, as only then would there be a chance that we will call title them honourable and mean it.