Merry Xmas and happy new year!

PAUL SWAGA Hello young people! I know that you are experiencing a lot of fun with your families and friends as you count down the days to Christmas and end of year. Moving all the way from 1st January to the end of the year is quite a long way and when you reach this period, it is worth celebrating. It is good that God is still keeping you alive. This is a period which should be characterised by making reflections on what you have achieved in the year in relation to the goals that you set at the beginning. Give yourself a pat on the back for the successes that you have registered. If you performed well in your studies, it is because you worked hard. If things did not go well, probably the strategies that you used were not very effective. Do not despair because adequate planning for the year ahead will change the trend of events in your life. Take time to look back on what you have gone through. The headways that you have made this year should inspire you to work even harder next year. You should consider the difficult moments that you might have experienced as learning opportunities for you to grow and to be able to approach life situations more cautiously. Life is a journey whereby you ought to keep projecting what is coming ahead. Challenges will always be there but it is your ability to deal with them that will make you a strong person of character and resilience. It does not make sense for you to get over excited this festive season just because you have reached the end of the year. Another year is about to unfold and it awaits you to acquire more knowledge and skills as you move towards adult life. This is the right time for you to get closer to your parents and share with them your passions. Let them know what you intend to achieve in the near future and the strategies that you will put in place to succeed. By so doing, you will motivate them to give you full moral support and guidance. Parents always feel good when their children take the initiative of talking about their future plans. If you have any issues that have been troubling your mind for a while, this is the right opportunity to talk about them with your parents, siblings or friends. It is better for you to enter the new year with your heads high and, when you are ready to tackle the tasks ahead. It is a bad idea to allow your frustrations spill over to another year. As you celebrate this festive season, remember that as a God-loving person you have to be good to all the people around you and act in moderation to protect your life and dignity. Do not get involved in bad company because you may ruin your future and yet a lot of wonderful opportunities await you in the world.You ought to remember that you carry your destiny in your hands and life is not a rehearsal.You are living it now.So, take full control of it. Social media platforms are very exciting to use but they have some shortcomings that you need to take note of. Make sure that you use themto connect and chat with credible people who will inspire you to pursue your career dreams rather than subject you to cyber bullying. There are lots of people online who have sinister plans of bullying innocent young people nowadays. If you fall a victim of such evil, talk to someone about it and find ways of getting over it. This period is always characterized by excessive drinking by some people most especially on the eve of the new year. Some of them reach an extent of entering the new year when they are unconscious of what is going on as a result of reckless drinking of alcohol.Others indulge themselves in high risk love relationships. You should guard against this kind of behavior because it only serves to divert you from your most cherished goals in life. Otherwise, I would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Take care! The writer is an English Language Instructor at Akilah Institute for Women

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Merry Xmas and happy new year!