Wendel Abel

Happy holidays to all. Amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I encourage everyone to pause, reflect and give thanks.

It is the time to reflect on a year that was, to reflect on our personal achievements, successes, setbacks and failures, and to remind ourselves that despite the setbacks, we have a lot to be grateful for.

I encourage you to remember to call or tell someone how much you appreciated them and the support they gave you. This may mean more than a thousand gifts.

I personally would like to say thanks to you our special readers, for your comments, criticisms and feedback. From the depth of my heart, I thank you.

To my colleagues, friends and family, thanks for the support you gave to make last year a success. Thanks for putting up with my shortcomings and failures. I greatly appreciate you.

As we plan for this New Year, let us pause and reflect on the things that matter most; friends, family, health, happiness and the core values of honesty, truth and integrity.

Let us continue to fight those personal demons such as fear and doubt that so often set us back.

I would like to share a poem, written by Mariane Williamson and made famous by Nelson Mandela.

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same.

- Mariane Williamson

Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

This woman cries during the prayer service, 'Heal the Family - Heal the Nation', held at the National Arena on January 4, 2006.

Dr. Wendel Abel is a consultant psychiatrist and head of Section of Psychiatry, Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, University of the West Indies. Email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.