I can see the year 2025 from where I’m seated as I write this. Pray, why was 2024 in such a hurry? It seems like just the other day that I was writing an article to usher in 2024, yet here I am again, reflecting on the year that has been. But thinking about it, I’m not sorry to say goodbye, because this has been a brutal year. I’m sure many of you agree with me.
Anyway, this time round, I am marking the close of this year in a different way…I have given up on making New Year's resolutions. This is because mine falter even before January is over. With this fact in mind, I have decided not to lie to myself this year and strike out making resolutions that will never see the light of day.
I have, instead, decided to take one day at a time, during which I will try to become a better person, do things better and aspire for better. Each new day, I will aim for better and to do better, and will refrain from beating myself over what I was unable to achieve the previous day.
That said, I have a wish list for 2025, which has been influenced by the year that was. The year 2024 was one of a kind. Sema kupigwa character development? I wish I could write about all the weighty and challenging situations that I was forced to confront this year, and survived, if only to encourage someone. I may write about them one day, however, in recognition of the hard year many of you have had, especially moneywise, I will refrain from writing about the many injustices we have suffered this year as a people, (and still are) since the last thing I want is to burden you further.
Here is what I hope will not happen to me in the New Year. I hope that no one I know, relative, friend or colleague, will do a wedding in 2025. Don’t get me wrong, I pray that you all find your person, that you find eternal love and everlasting happiness, but do you have to do a wedding in 2025? Why not do it in 2026 or 2027 or 2030 for that matter?
I say this because this year, the number of wedding WhatsApp groups I was added to is almost criminal. Unfortunately, everyone that was getting married I knew quite well, we have a relationship of some sort, so I could not quietly leave the group at 3am when everyone else was asleep, or mute the group. In short, I felt obligated to contribute towards these weddings, yet we all know how unforgiving 2024 was, financially.
So please, if you know me, and have found the love of your life, I’m happy for you, but please consider pushing your wedding to 2026, I need a break this coming year, I don’t think I can afford to bankroll one more wedding. And if you must do that wedding, I really pray that you will forget to add me to the WhatsApp group…
I also pray for long life, mine and that of everyone I know and interact with. This year, I attended quite a number of burials and funerals, it was depressing. Not a month went by before a death announcement of someone I knew was made, and subsequent fundraising either to offset hospital bills, or burial costs. Even children were not spared.
This coming year, I pray that you all get to usher in the New Year with your loved ones, and also get to close it with them come December 2025. I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.
