By Manuel Calviño
It has been a difficult year. Cuba, despite everything, continues to rise and move forward. Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla/ Cubadebate.
We are not going to give up the desire for us to be happy. We are not going to give up fighting for us to achieve happiness. No condition will make us relent in our efforts. I know that many people think that way. It doesn't matter how minimal what is achieved with shared effort is. One step is enough to take another. That's why, now that the year 2025 is about to begin, I present here "Desiderata from the crisis."
May the family be that feeling of unity, of benevolent complicity, that originates and nourishes it. May each family member be a builder of support, a solver of problems, a conqueror of difficulties. No matter how much physical distance is created. It doesn't matter how much diversity of perspectives it contains. The family is not a unit of opinions, but a unit of respect, of noble feelings. Differences do not create antagonisms. Antagonisms arise from inadequate ways of dealing with differences.
May feelings of familiarity extend to meet the neighbor, to those who share the community space. May hard times not diminish that sacred duty. May scarcity not become a lack of clarity in what is essential. The family's food should not be lacking, and although it does not replace bread, it aligns with the principle of sharing, of empathetically taking on the search for solutions.
That we are capable of taking responsibility for our environment, for the living space in which we live and that gives us life. That we think we are not alone in the world (in our city, our neighborhood, in the place where we live) and that each of our actions impacts other people. The world we see is how we have made it. He speaks not only of how it is, but also, and much more, of how we are. Even the smallest effort counts, because it is impossible not to feel addressed by the solid waste, saturating corners, buildings on the verge of collapsing under the weight of events. There is also a lot of social indiscipline, inconsideration, mistreatment, violence, prejudices of all kinds, perhaps invited by the situations being experienced. But being invited is not a sufficient reason to accept such a degrading invitation.
The blockade does exist and must cease now. But there is also negligence, apathy, incompetence, bureaucracy, and so many other societal dysfunctions that take advantage of the crisis to unleash themselves. Getting rid of them is more within our reach.
Let us be transparent in expressing our desires, without confusing desires with anxiety. May our desires never run out. May we always want to improve. Knowing how to project discontent into reparative paths, in the construction of a harmonious, equitable social fabric, is an existential wisdom that exudes peace, nobility, and justice. The human world stands out for its differences. If we embrace them to exclude, we build suffering. If we do it to empower, we will have an unbeatable potential for development. Let political speeches be fewer barricades and more bridges. That they are closer to construction than to the ideal model, closer to the present without neglecting the future. Without today, tomorrow cannot be built. Let us take on a rationality that rejects any form of exploitation, intrusion, invasion, or genocide. The world is enough for everyone, and if we make it produce to distribute properly, it is capable of feeding with the prudence of what is necessary.
May the decisions we make, whatever they may be, be consensual. That they are not based on mere impulse. When we act on impulse, we throw ourselves into a minefield of possible mistakes that ends in useless lamentations. Better than rushing is anticipating, being able to evaluate the costs and benefits. Well-reasoned decisions are not only smarter but also more effective. Everything has a cost. What is achieved without effort is a gift. And from gifts, neither true commitment, nor a sense of belonging, and much less the satisfaction of having achieved what we set out to do, are born. One must not evade or avoid. We must confront and face the harshness of life, especially when it is marked by deep complexities.
Even while navigating a difficult year, marked by hardships and a shortage of basic services, may we be able to preserve human sensitivity, solidarity, honesty, respect, and integrity. May the rules and social pacts be followed diligently, because indiscipline is chaos; disintegration, an open door.
That even while going through a difficult year, marked by hardships and the scarcity of basic services, we are able to preserve human sensitivity, solidarity, honesty, respect, and integrity. May the norms and social pacts be followed diligently, because indiscipline is chaos; disintegration, an open door to the worst degradations of human essence. Let us not be caught up by greed, selfishness. Only in this way will the spiritual culture of the nation survive, only in this way will we continue to have independence and sovereignty, because only in this way will we continue to feel the pride of being Cuban.
There is no need to wait for epiphanies. It's worth taking on challenges and facing them with determination. The only possible miracle is the one that arises from the human capacity to overcome obstacles and grow with each attempt. Face difficulties and live with dignity. Do not stray for any reason from the endless path of shared happiness, because there is no true happiness where some achieve it and others suffer for not being able to reach it. Hope seems to hide in times of crisis, to fade away in its condition of utopia, and to dissolve among the impossible. But it is, above all, a prelude that brings happiness to those who fight for life and only disappears in those who give up. Let hope come, even if it is accompanied by a certain rational pessimism, but never devoid of the optimism of feelings, of will.
A wish from the crisis is possible, because hope, family unity, and the defense of values are an incomparably greater force than any other that wants to end it.
[ SOURCE: CUBA DEBATE ]
