Better bad decisions
Start making better bad decisions by shutting out the negativity. Realize your “nation building” starts with your personal home building. And the only boat you are on is the one with a hundred million other Filipinos who need to take care of each other.
MY favorite quote about beginning a New Year is, “This year let’s resolve to make better bad decisions”—from that famous author Anonymous.
It is hard to believe that this Thursday marks the third anniversary of the 2020 eruption of Taal Volcano. Just when we thought we had dodged a bullet from that natural disaster, we came face to face with a man-made catastrophe. And whether or not you believe that Covid came from a bowl of bat soup or a bioweapons lab, the disaster was the global governments’ response to the spread of the disease.
However, I am at that age when looking out for your own personal best interests is paramount. When you are over the biblical “three score and ten years” mentioned in Psalm 90:10, and you hear of someone’s death, you will think in passing, “So sad but I’m glad it’s not me”. Welcome to real life.
Let me share some of my personal “make better bad decisions” for 2023.
The last three years have seen Social Media turn into a cesspool of stupidity unrivaled in the history of mankind. The Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials were nothing in comparison to what happens on Socmed every day. Facebook, Twitter, and all the other “alternatives” have turned into a SCOAMF. Look it up.
That term used to be reserved for politicians, hypocritical celebrities, and vapid thought-influencers. But during the time of Covid, it has gone mainstream. During the past three months I have significantly reduced my interactions almost entirely on FB and responding on Twitter.
I finally realized that one person in particular who has 100,000 twit followers never has anything positive to say. Why? One thing I noticed is this person’s constant preaching about all the negatives today and what I should do to make sure the planet is still alive in 50 years. The reality is that neither one of us will
be alive then. But I also realized that this person is childless.
I have a great vested interest in the future because of my sons and grandchildren, and I always have a positive but constructive outlook for the future. If I didn’t, I should have drowned them all at birth. So, I know that I cannot change this negative person’s attitude, but I must stop hearing their negative garbage.
Anonymous also said “Negativity is a cancer of the soul that spreads like a bad cold.”
Another way to make better bad decisions is to stop thinking that we are all in the same boat. We aren’t. There are many boats and not all of them are sinking. Some are actually doing quite well.
“If a butterfly flaps its wings in Shanghai, this creates a blizzard in New York City”. Perhaps. But those same flapping butterfly wings can create perfect abundant crop-producing weather in Mozambique.
Local headlines reported that International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the world faces “a tough year, tougher than the year we leave behind. One-third of the global economy will be in recession.”
I have also been saying that for several months. However, if you look at a map of projected global growth with the bad economies in “black” and progressing to the better ones in “gold”, one area of the world shines brightly—southeast Asia.
The only loser in our region—by comparison—is Thailand, which depends on tourism from the “black” countries.
Start making better bad decisions by shutting out the negativity. Realize your “nation building” starts with your personal home building. And the only boat you are on is the one with a hundred million other Filipinos who need to take care of each other.