While I believe it is crucial to promote the importance of planting the seeds today for a better future, we can’t be so embroiled in making plans that we forget to enjoy the moment.
Throughout my life I have benefitted from the fruits of the hard work of previous generations. Free health care, free education, good public transport, a welfare system and peace, these things didn’t just happen. People planned them, worked at them and even fought and died for them. While we enjoy today, as we should, we must appreciate those that helped create it and we must nurture a vision for a better future for ourselves and our community at large.
As Father Time will indubitably continue to carry us forward our contribution should be to organise and build for a better Inverclyde, full in the knowledge that we won’t all experience the benefits. But to achieve this we need a positive ambitious approach.
Life is full of people quick to criticise, and social media in particular is plagued by them. Their every post criticising a person, an organisation, a decision. They are marinaded in a soup of self-centred, self-promoting conceit and it may seem that they are important, they certainly think they are, but within the big picture they are nothing compared to the genuine desire of the majority who seek to improve the outcomes and opportunities for all. It’s just that the self-effacing, humble, majority don’t tweet about it. Two years into a worldwide pandemic it can be hard to be upbeat and positive all the time but as we approach a new year, we must keep looking beyond this pandemic to a brighter future and we must ensure we are doing everything we can to ensure that happens. Positivity on its own isn’t enough, but mixed with hard work, aspiration and a sense of community it will take us a long way. Meanwhile don’t forget to hug the ones you love and enjoy the passing of time
Ronnie Cowan MP 