By Rev. Fr. Dr. Hilary R. Munyaneza

“For God and my Country” is our national motto that in a few words like other mottos summarises our aspirations as Ugandans. 

This means that all that we do should have as its basic inspiration the love of God and the love of Uganda. 

Following in these footsteps, we should begin the year with God, go through it with God and end it with God.  Living this way, will enable us to walk the talk of our national motto and so it shall not be only on the national court of arms, but rather life to be lived.

Oftentimes, it happens that as we begin the year, we start it with zeal and great vigor.  This may be understood basing on the human practice and experience that oftentimes something new attracts our attention and is desirable. 

With time, however, human experience bears witness to the fact that what was new becomes familiar and the earlier vigour is lost. 

Basing on this, I recommend that let us strive to live each day of 2023 as the first, only and last day.  This recommendation is based on the fact that even when all the days of the year are made up of 24 hours, it is also true that each day is unique and special in its own right.  For example, January 4, 2023, will occur only once.

At the start of the New Year, many people make resolutions.  These are the summaries of the goals, and objectives that they wish to attain in that year. 

Proper resolutions should take into consideration the major aspects of human life.  These are the spiritual, social, physical and mental. For those who are in business, there should also be financial resolutions while the students should have academic resolutions.  In drawing up the resolutions, one should be aware that there will be moments of going down the hill, but this should not be a source of discouragement because the God of the mountain peak is still God in the valley.  Consequently, our resolutions should be made and entrusted to God through prayer.

In striving to attain our resolutions of the New Year, we should strive to guard against some dangers like giving up on prayer, pre-marital relationships (especially for the students in holidays) loss of focus, mediocrity, discouraging remarks from others, negative mental attitude, complacency and others.

Sir William Shakespeare once noted that, “a goal ceases to be desired once achieved.”  How we go through 2023 will either prove or disapprove what that celebrated English poet expressed.  Even after attaining the goals, let us go for more because the peak of one mountain can be the start of another mountain.

The challenges that we shall encounter as we strive to make our dreams a reality should not distract us from the goals that we set out to achieve at the start of the year.  In more than one way, the challenges can also be used as wonderful moments of growth in the various facets of life. This calls for resilience. It is in this same spirit that our setbacks can be used as our comebacks.

The writer is a Lecturer of Theology at St. Mbaaga’s Major Seminary – Ggaba and is the head of the Department of Doctrine of Kampala Archdiocese.