Year end: Is your progress report sound?

The boat guy said, “NO”.
The tourist then asked, “What the hell do you know on the face of this earth? You will die of illiteracy!”
After a while, the boat started sinking.
The boatman asked the tourist: Do you know Swimology and Escapology from Crocodilogy?” The tourist said, “NO!”
The boat guy replied, “Well today you will Drownology and Crocodilogy will eat you and you will Dieology because of your Badmouthology.”
Gentle reader, such is the situation everyone finds himself in today.
You reap what you sow. Ungakohwa seiko iwe usina kurima?
Majoring in minor issues does not pay. It’s suicidal.
Slowly, but surely we have come to the end of the journey.
That coarse and bumpy road called 2011 that we waded through since January comes to an end tonight.
Like in an examination, everyone got 100 percent before deciding which marks to lose and which to keep.
We all got 12 months to prove our mettle, but not everyone is smiling. Others are crying out loud for a rerun, others are crying foul while some are pointing to none existent wars.
“Chivanhu,” “Ndirikuroiwa,” Mamhepo,” “Ndiri kuoneswa fayazi nevekwedu,” “Ndakasonwa,” you hear people saying during this time of the year to cover up for failure.
But a lie will always remain a lie no matter how much you talk about it to make it sound true.
People run on their swords by misusing the power of choice God gave us. If you plan to fail, you fail come wind come rain.
“Regai ndirove doro nekuti ndakadziya. Mahadhi akazara kumbudzi uko,” I heard an acquaintance saying.
And he was not wrong. Most kings and queens of the ghetto could not last the distance. They played dangerously and ended up under mounds of earth in cemeteries after stretching the clever game exceedingly over the limit. Ukabata vhunze remoto unotsva.
Those who were slightly lucky were arrested and at least have a chance to start anew. Ukada kulumisa unolumila.
This is the time to count our blessings, the losses, appreciate the good that we did and also look at the bad and take measures to turn these into successes.
An eye for an eye will make the world blind, but it’s never a mistake to make a mistake. Only repeating a mistake is a problem.
Like people in a supermarket, we have come to the till point where those awash with cash distinguish themselves from the rest by pushing full trolleys of groceries while those of the mean sort struggle to fill even a plastic bag.
Homwe nhete inonyadzisa mwene wayo.
The end of the year is both as cruel and as honest as was Judas Iscariot. He never pretended to love Jesus when the hour to betray him came.
In the same way, an honest man will never hide his mistakes, neither does he think his successes camouflage errors.
Those who spent the year 2011 expending their energies on the trivial will be there for everyone to see while those who did well will also be there for those without jealous to see.
If you spent the better part of the year drinking copious amounts of beer and planting kisses on cheeks of women of all shapes and sizes, this is time to assess whether the money you splashed on such the trivial was not enough to buy a house or a small car.
While people explode fireworks to welcome the New Year, the end of the year is one typical time to pull oneself together and assess whether or not the compass one uses to direct their life is the correct one.
As I commit pen to paper gentle reader, some well-mannered girls are smiling all the way to church after their hands were taken in marriage by committed men of their age.
But the same cannot be said about those of loose morals who saw anything in trousers as a sexual partner and ended up in despicable problems.
Those who were not careful found themselves walking arm-in-arm with destruction while others even met death.
The year 2011 goes down in history tonight as having been a difficult year for those of us who played hide-and-seek with the law and found themselves coming second best.
Some are doing unpaid work for their misdeeds while their agemates are putting that time to productive use.
There is a good number of people who will not be celebrating tonight because all the resolutions they made at the beginning of the year did not have anyone to follow up while they were doing time in prison.
This is time to take stock and assess whether or not we committed our financial, emotional and physical resources on worthwhile things.
While others will be downing the wise waters in a typical Bachus hath drowned more men than Neptune fashion, a good number will be shy to even come out and welcome the New Year.
It is bad to fail to be with others, not because you are committed, but because cash is not on your side owing to misuse and a predilection to enjoy the fruits of other people’s sweat.
Churches are being filled to the brim by people seeking blessings for the New Year, yet their hearts are full of envy and written the word cruel in bold letters.
Embracing Christianity with an open heart and open mind pays off that doing so with a shut mind.
Kunamata kusina mabasa kwakafa.
People who committed the bulk of the year to violence, will be stewing in their juice in prison walls as the law takes its course.
Hospitals will be playing host to some, while graveyards may be asked to account for those resting in their bellies across the length and breadth of the country.
2011 was a good race, but let’s be careful as we march towards the finishing line.
Like in all races, dirty tricks are used at the finish line and some good runners are disqualified for using performance-enhancing substances.
The same applies to the real life situation where some people thing people who excel better than them dabble in muti.
Everyone has a role to play in making the world. And it begins with you.
Wish you a prosperous 2012.