The 18th of November 2018 was a day of celebration for the entire nation. Men and women, and the elderly and the children had their own way of celebrating the occasion. How does one have the feel-good factor? In the early years, a theme would be declared for the National Day. It could be the year of the youth, heritage and culture, environment, agriculture, education, private sector and so on. When we look back, it is clear that it was one of the biggest awareness campaigns because after each year the awareness that spread across society on that particular subject was tremendous. There was a renewed focus each year.
The speech of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has a deep impact just like the speech that was delivered a few days ago during a meeting with Council of Ministers. This year, the Oman Daily Observer had selected different topics that His Majesty chose to address in the previous years. It has been posted every day on the social media platforms. The selected message by Oman Daily Observer for November 19 was a message to the youth.
These are the wise words — “Youth, the world you are inheriting is one in which fanaticism, intolerance, and disregard and disrespect for the rule of law has become a byword. We see violence and depression on all sides and we see man sometimes in disrepair of the future of humanity. But we believe that the day must come when these evils are defeated. This is the aim which every one of us of every nationality must seek to work for and achieve.”
This universal message aims straight at the reality that the youth faces today. It is a duty for citizens and all other nationalities in the country.
In order to be accepted and considered cool, often the young members of society think they have to be different and this is a global phenomenon.
We have the comfort of free advice from our elders but as youth, we want to reject it. Our emotions get the better of us and we lose years and it is only much later that we pause and realise the wisdom our elders had for us. The conclusion in most cases is, ‘they were so right’.
Life often does not give us a second chance. That does not mean we do not find our own ways to a newer tomorrow. It does not mean we have to be stuck in the old ways. But new thinking can be based on values and these values had been practised over years because of their success rate.
This is an age where everyone is attracted to the headline of ‘Ten reasons why...’ May be it is time we revisited the lists of values and ask ourselves and the elders why it worked for them and why you should consider it.
In a world where artificial intelligence is expected to play a bigger role where many of our established majors in colleges and universities might be written off, values would still hold place because it is values that define our attitude.
When elders speak, it might be a good idea to listen and take notes because what they say is from experience called life.
There is a thought — ‘Let me make my own mistakes’. But the fact is the world is moving so fast that there is not much time for us to make errors and restart again.
Then again if you have committed mistakes, it is not as if it is the end as each day brings in new hope. So when you leap ahead with your dreams, it still is a good idea to stay connected to the roots because they are the best reminders of values. When you work with values, you sleep better.
Lakshmi Kothaneth
lakshmiobserver@gmail.com
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