Most of us have seen enough clichéd Hollywood movies expounding on the incredible power of hope against all odds.
However, it is particularly relevant to us in these gloomy times as droves of people leave for foreign shores and businesses are not doing great.
There is almost a national depression of sorts going on as people increasingly develop a pessimistic or cynical outlook.
As clichéd as the term is in Hollywood movies, the power of hope is what we Bhutanese need in these times.
It is firstly fool hardy to assume that the current tough times will continue forever.
Like life is full of ups and downs, it is also natural for a nation to undergo the same patterns.
We must first be grateful that Bhutan was one of the very few countries that handled the pandemic well despite limited resources due to the extraordinary leadership of our King and the cooperation of the people.
If Delta had hit us, then anywhere between 700 to 1,000 Bhutanese would have died, conservatively speaking.
As the pandemic got over, the entire world was hit by the Ukraine war that jacked up inflation and fuel prices and hampered recovery across the world. International economic growth also slowed on its own.
Bhutan also decided that we needed to undergo important reforms and like any reforms it is never easy.
It will be foolish of people to assume that the reforms are a one-time done thing frozen in time and will not evolve, but people should know that the reforms will keep evolving to meet the ground realities and to get better results.
What we need is some patience to see the results and actions that will accordingly follow.
During the pandemic we were blessed by the extraordinary leadership of His Majesty The King that literally saved our lives and health.
We, the people, have to reaffirm the same faith in these tough times as firstly His Majesty’s Leadership will ultimately lead us to a better place, and secondly the current tough times will not last forever.
Fear is an easy thing to catch, but it often exaggerates problems and makes matters worse, so we Bhutanese must turn towards hope that things will improve in the near future.
Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.
Robert H. Schuller