Purpose to change the future by keeping your word.
By SAMMI NDERITU
It is a new year ‘and like every beginning of the year, we all look forward to having a wonderful ‘and more exciting year than past one. Promises ‘and resolutions are made to others ‘and to self; after all, optimism is in the air. However, as is typical of human beings, “laws are made to be broken.”
In 2017, Kenya went through a draining political season. Politicians, in their pursuit for votes committed to ensure a peaceful election but that didn’t happen. The cost of that broken promise saw the death of several people through post-election violence. We collectively pointed fingers at political leaders for inciting violence ‘and the police for using live bullets. We lynched each other on social media while forgetting the promise that we always sing about in our National Anthem – “…may we dwell in unity, peace ‘and liberty; plenty be found within our borders.”
Another broken promise
As we were smarting from the political turbulence, we were sadly reminded of another promise that we have constantly made over the years – to make our highways safe. But as we look back at the year that has gone by, we realise that our roads are anything but safe. According to the National Transport ‘and Safety Authority records, 2017 took about 3,000 people to the grave while 7,000 others were injured because of our carelessness, drunk driving ‘and ignorance of traffic rules.
Today, each one of us can certainly look back ‘and point out a few situations where they have had to pay a heavy price because someone failed to keep their end of the bargain. At our work place, some people made commitments to give their best to the interest of the organisation but because of their short sightedness, took shortcuts of dishonesty ‘and consequently lost their jobs or led to business losses.
At a family level, marriages have been broken, children have been lost to drugs ‘and other negative behaviour because someone failed to honour a promise of marital faithfulness or parental responsibility.
This year, take a personal initiative to play your rightful role in keeping a promise to always do what is right. Give the best to your employer ‘and be diligent ‘and honest in all your dealings. Purpose to change the future by keeping your word always.
Sammi Nderitu is a writer, photographer ‘and digital media expert.
Email: snderitu@kim.ac.ke
