The most beautiful is that we have to imagine this future, paint it with the colours of our hopes and dreams, trust that time, passing by, will bring better things in all senses. But no matter how much we launch these desires towards the future, the future is stained with what we have already lived, of the collected experiences, of few bright moments of happiness, and many of fear and anguish.

How can we dream of a better, more positive year if we have to endure daily much news that throw us into sadness, desperation or, even worse, an indifference ensuring we do not suffer?
Daily the bad news fall on us as an avalanche skillfully made by intelligent people whose interest is to conceal the truth; and in certain cases they do not even use a mask anymore, but they show reality in all its cruelty. In all the corners of the world there is open conflict,  entire societies have fallen in misery or in luxury, and individuals feel unable to stop the way things are going, and even more unable to find a solution.

Difficulty seems to be the sign of our times. Everything is slowing down; things become harder and more unachievable. This is happening at an individual level, as well as for entire communities. What can be done then?

We are accustomed to a notion of a future that is always going to be better and better, without problems or, at least, each time with fewer amounts of problems. We have taken for granted that supposedly everything will be resolved for us externally. Maybe this vision of our own evolution has brought us to the point that has taken from us energy and creativity. Maybe before so much easiness we have lost the moral force that characterizes–or should characterize–the human being... there are so many maybes…The certain thing is that the brilliant predictions of the future were not realized, and in general, we all feel puzzled before the difficulties that arise in front of us and our little ability to resolve them.

Nevertheless, man keeps on feeling the proprietor of his will, of his thoughts, of his feelings and actions. It would be enough to open our eyes, accept what we have ahead of us and go back to using our natural abilities. I don’t think that we are trying to recover a false sense of optimism. It is the need to recover our inner strength so we can confront the difficulties, to go back to reasoning with good sense, to go back to trying to be a better person, to act with honesty, to exercise our will day by day reinforcing these forgotten values but nevertheless so necessary for living. Let’s make sense of what we have been experiencing and keep on projecting our lives towards tomorrow.
It is time that we accept difficulties as something inherent to existence. It is time to go back being firm, honourable and happy, even in the middle of problems, because this is the best way to overcome problems. To be able to see with clarity will help us not to expect the New Year to handout gifts to us, but to obtain authentic presents, turning us into exceptional magicians of our destiny and of that of  all humanity.
Delia Steinberg Guzmán