Dear Editor,

Summer is here and with it the London Olympics and Jamaica 50. It is time for a healthy balance of happiness but also sobriety; spending but also thrift, travel but also transportation safety, marital and family bliss but also restraint and moderation, holiday fun but also reading and studying. And of course we wish our athletes the very best.

I encourage each person to think, meditate and pray. Some could write a series of five-year or 10-year plans having goals which can be reviewed and data-driven. One person's timeline, for example, might be CXC subjects then vocational or skills training; self-employment, then marriage, then savings and investment, then having children, then career advancement and volunteerism, then car or house or furniture, then retirement and so on.

In the book Passages by Gail Sheehy, she posits that each stage or decade in life is unique and builds upon the previous stage. However, in all of this, let us remember especially to give pride of place to the Lord because the most important occasion or process in the life of an individual is that of getting to believe in God, and knowing Him.

As we observe Jamaica 50 and watch the Olympics with pride, and travel in the summer heat, please do not drink and drive, and be extra careful on the roads. Let's be united as one people, showing due respect to our motto and flag. Have a blessed Jubilee, Jamaica.

CD Smith

Christiana

Manchester