I came in for some withering criticism recently for adopting the position, that as painful as it is, the current intolerable crime situation is an opportunity for T&T to recalibrate.
As a society, we need to stay strong as we battle the fierce trade wind of murders. All I was seeking to suggest is that we are being forced as a society to deal with the problems.
And while it may seem that we are in panic mode (and some of us are), there is no need for a total meltdown. It's a long time coming, this day of reckoning. Mistakes made have gone unaddressed and unchallenged for far too long.
At times we tend to bury our heads in the sand and appearing to hope we will wake up and it will all go away. Let's not fool ourselves. There are those amongst us who are wellpositioned to extract significant profit from the crime and all the other things wrong in T&T society. The challenge is to not succumb to the bad news narrative at the expense of critically assessing the totality of the situation.
In more ways than one, this year's Lima Pan Am Games, which will get underway on Friday in Peru, is coming at a time when the easiest thing to do is the find an excuse.
Team T&T (Team TTO) will be seeking to rise above the negativity to deliver uplifting inspiration to T&T. It's exciting to take on the challenge of delivering positivity. Team TTO as the flag bearer of T&T will accept the burden and challenge. It's about going for gold amid the storm.
With so many things happening both on and off the field of play. How do we all stay focused?
Where do we find the individual and collective resilience? Where do we find the individual and collective selfbelief?
What drives each of us to make the choices we do? What is our motivation?
When life isn't going the way you anticipated and selfconfidence is draining away, what keeps us moving forward?
T&T, we can do it. We can rise from our knees confident that we can make it if we try a little harder.
That's all we can ask our athletes as they represent "Trinbago" in Lima, Peru. Give it all you got. Do your best. Don't back away from the battle. We will make it if we try a little harder.
In other T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) news, this year's edition of the TTOC Olympic Youth Camp got underway yesterday and will run until Saturday. As always it's packed with exciting activities for the campers aged between 12 and 17 years old.