Sit around too long thinking about how to begin and you’ll consume all your provisions while your ship rots in the harbor.
— American football player Shawn DavisSISYPHUS’ TRICKS
MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — The late American president Theodore Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
True—but in most cases, whenever there is a problem or concern, people make decisions without really knowing whether what they decide is right or wrong.
Still, what really matters is taking action swiftly rather than procrastinating until it’s too late. This is probably why, in the mind of the great Roman general Julius Caesar, it was the reverse in most men—because he rejoiced in committing himself.
Reality shows us that each day brings a score of challenges, and we must say yes or no to decisions that will set off chains of consequences. Some of us deliberate on them, while others refuse to decide, which in itself may be considered a decision as well. Still, there are those among us who leap giddily into a decision, setting their jaws and closing their eyes—a kind of decision born of despair.
And going back to Caesar, he embraced decision as though his mind operated only when it was intertwined with significant consequences. He shunned no responsibility, instead heaping more and more upon his shoulders.
By the way, Caesar was murdered during the Ides of March—the same month when we were struck by a crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East and the subsequent disruption of the global oil supply.
This is our predicament. Unfortunately, our dear President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. failed to foresee this, or to work out preventive measures before we were caught off guard. The truth is, he should have anticipated this and acted promptly, either beforehand or as soon as it happened.
Take, for example, what Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso did in the country’s capital. Without batting an eye, he issued a directive to increase the subsidy for the ‘libreng sakay’ participants as a means of offsetting the fuel price hike.
Well done—and swiftly executed, earning praise from the public.
FOR your comments or suggestions, complaints, or requests, just send a message to my email at cipcab2006@yahoo.com or text me at 0917-165-6792 or 0917-159-2256 during office hours, Monday to Friday. Thank you and mabuhay!
