Let us take care of our children

Tue, Nov 15. 2011

Editor: I am getting the impression that we are not as happy as we were a few years ago. I am seeing fewer smiles and I am hearing less laughter. I believe that much of it has to do with the challenging economic times that we are facing. However, I hope that it is not affecting our inner joy and peace.{{more}} We sometimes confuse joy and happiness, but joy is more inward while happiness often comes from an external stimulus. We are born with an abundance of joy, hence that is why a baby often plays with himself or herself, or a calf can be seen running around a pasture all by itself. For some reason, this joy, tends to disappear as we get older.

Despite all that is going on around us, we must try to remain happy, though this may be very difficult to do. We ought to be very supportive of one another and we should be doing more collectively. This is why community activities are very important. Sport is one of those things that bring a community together and can bring happiness.

We are not putting enough emphasis on sports. Not only can it bring happiness, but it can also open many opportunities for our young people. We ought to get our children involved in as many sporting activities as possible. However, persons nowadays are fearful of letting their kids out of their sight because there are too many persons preying on these kids, both male and female. Not even the churches or the schools are safe places for our children. This is very disheartening and threatens the development of any society. There are persons who would go to the extent of taking up coaching in order to get at our children. Are we of such depraved minds that we cannot reflect on what is being done to these children? Persons of this nature must admit that they have a problem and ought to seek help.

We must give our children every opportunity to succeed. This is not a land of many opportunities; therefore they must be in a position to take advantage of any that come along. When they are abused, it affects them psychologically and they are no longer able to function normally.

It is time that each of us reflects on ourselves and see if we are doing justice to our children and make the necessary changes so that we can bring more happiness to them.

Mystic