At 51... (Happy Birthday T&T)

At fifty one you're not young anymore. You can be young at heart, but you're not young. That is not to say that you're old, it's just that you're a grown up now and should start acting your age.

What do grown ups do that young people don't, you ask?

Well there are quite a few things actually, and while this list is comprehensive, it is by no means definitive and I am sure that if you tried you could think of others that belong here as well.

Let's start:

At 51 you should be gainfully employed, well into paying off your mortgage, putting aside a little something for when your earning capacity depletes, and thinking about making better choices health wise. You avoid fast foods and focus instead on eating healthy. If at all possible, you engage in the liberating exercise of growing your own food, and, speaking of exercise, at 51 you are sensible enough to understand the benefits of walking or riding instead of driving, saving money that would otherwise be spent at the gas pump and lowering your carbon footprint. 51 year olds have little interest in pursuits that have deleterious side effects. Longevity becomes more important, and tobacco and alcohol stop having the allure they had in your younger years. You make decisions that actually cut tobacco out of your immediate space and you treat alcohol as it should be treated and drink sparingly if at all. You think about your people more, you make decisions in their best interest, you accentuate positives while doing your best to eliminate negatives. Fifty one is a marvelous age. It frees you to focus on education on a deeper level, and what is deeper than spirituality? You have a healthy respect for everyone else's religion and you embrace and celebrate as many diverse cultures as you can.

At fifty one you do not engage in violence nor do you encourage others to respond in a violent manner. You understand causes, you seek out solutions that would be in everyone's best interest, and you make sure that the decisions that you make are not selfish or self serving but based on the maxim that together we are better than we could ever be alone.

This is where we should be as a nation at 51, but sadly we are not. Those charged with making the decisions have made bad decisions driven by selfish motives at the expense of the collective. The sins of the past have come home to roost with a literal bullet, and instead we find ourselves at 51 with our nation in disarray, our people in peril and our political conversation immature, toxic and scandalous.

In this scenario it is hard to picture us making fifty two much less sixty one if the current behavior continues, and we need to have a frank and honest conversation with our selves.

Simply put, we need to make better choices.

We need to understand that hoarding at the expense of others does nothing to make us better, but sharing does. Learning to live together in harmony should be our goal. To respect ourselves and each other. To be willing to share the bounty of this blessed land so that we could all live peaceful, happy lives.

This is what I want for my nation at fifty one, this is what I wish.

Happy Independence sweet Trinidad & Tobago...