Lady Hope and Lady Luck, both dear to our hearts - Alcyonenews

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Islands Trust

Posted December 30, 2017

Lady Hope and Lady Luck, both dear to our hearts

2017 is bowing out, leaving the stage to its heir and successor. Sad to see it go?

We tend to be dissatisfied with our past because no matter how well we have done, “better” it could certainly be. Since “better” was possible we feel sorry for having done less than we could do. Since “worse” is equably probable, Pessimists fear the new year and optimists celebrate the good and plenty to come.

Lamenting the irreversible past is not conducive to commanding the pliable future. Crying over spilt milk is conducive to defeatism which would likely generate more causes for lamenting than for celebrating. The optimists are the majority because hope springs eternal. The prudent course to take is to lament the past less, study it more, and commit most of our energies to the pursuit of a better future.

Hence, for the many the year change is only a milestone on our trip through life to Nirvana which, incidentally, may beat Hell with its harsh climate and Heaven with the endless angelic harp concert for which, somehow, tickets are hard to get.

New year milestones are occasions for merriment, and why not? Tis the day to tell Lady Hope our aspirations, expecting her to influence Lady Luck to pay us more visits than in the past. And that is fine. But pragmatic chaps and gals heed the Delphi Oracle aphorism to work towards the realization of dreams along with praying for them to come true. Hence the popularity of new year resolutions.

The world would be better for our new year resolutions except that we tend to neglect them. This Churchill sought to help us avert when he urged relentless persistence. His word we must heed, for unless we persist, that which need be done will remain undone.

I have been interacting with the Trust since 2009 and I have only scars to show for that. It is not because I failed – it is because the Trust failed. This is conclusively verified by that the Trust ”hides and I “seek” – always, no exception, thoughout the years since 2009.

Indeed The Trust has gone downhill since the advent of the decade, increasingly necessitating a thorough restructuring. The Referendum we endured yielded consensus that the Trust is broke and needs fixin’. Then we should be working to change the Trust – but this is not happening as it should be.

There are two causes I see that make us lax. The one is that after the Referendum ordeal we need to “lay us down to rest awhile and make ready to rise and fight again”, like Admiral Barton said. But we must rise to the task quickly because of the second cause of our current lull.

The second cause is that the Trust, Trustees and Staff, quick as a wink after seeing the universal quest for Trust reform, “joined in” to grab the chance away from us. They

PRofess readiness to do the Trust Reform themselves, on our behalf. The “Elected Officials” who dragged us through the painful referendum, are now feverishly seeking to dissipate the societal vitality in bickering about the Boardwalk insanity. They are bent on surreptitiously taking the wind from the sails of reform so as to shelter the Trust against change.

The Trust failings are traceable to the Trust having moated itself from the people and having plugged their ears to the vox populi which is the blood of the Democratic body politic. It is they who now want us to let them “democratize” the Trust. The route they are taking is the very same which has necessitated the need for the reform.

If the Trust was capable of self-reform the need for change would not arise. It is we, the people, who are the watchdogs of our freedom. The task is ours to perform and we must rise to our calling. Let’s make 2018 the year of making the Trust trustworthy.

Tom V