Looking back, how has 2017 treated you?

2017 ends at midnight on Sunday.
As we watch the last few days of the year go by, a new year beckons.
But looking back at the last year, how would you rate 2017?
Ticking off the checks and balances of the year, have you recorded a profit, loss or an even break?
Has it been a wasted 12 months or a busy and fruitful year?
At about this time last year, did you not sit down with a notebook, laptop or mobile phone and jot down some dos and don’ts for the year?
Looking back, can you honestly tell whether you have stuck by some of the resolutions you made or have you failed them within a few weeks of the New Year?
It is no good plotting a new year until you have reviewed the old year and what has been achieved.
As a nation, we began the year with misgivings and uncertainty.
Elections arrived against this background but it turned out to be the savior of the situation.
When the dust settled, a government of reconciliation and reconstruction was forged and the bitter feud between the various groups was cast asunder with a coalition with Peter O’Neill as a clear leader, having returned close to 30 MPs during the elections, which is a success rate of almost 30 per cent.
For the first time in 25 years (since the 1992 election), there were no women in the 111-member Parliament, despite more female candidates being nominated for elections than ever before (167 of 3332 were female).
Over 4000 candidates from 45 political parties contested the 2017 general election.
Most failed miserably to make their policies known when they literally did nothing in terms of publicity of their platforms knowing full well the voting trend.
That aside, the 2018 Budget directed the bulk of funding away from recurrent expenditure and away from line departments and has been distributed to agriculture, the provinces and districts in a dramatic shift away from the towns and cities to the rural sector.
The Government side says it is the best budget every presented while the Opposition described it as fake.
Bilateral and multilateral donors have been asked to realign their funding arrangements in keeping with the government priority areas of education, health, infrastructure and the economy.
How do we want to progress ourselves, our families, our schools, our communities and our nation?
Regardless of how small or insignificant you might think you are or your contribution is, make no mistake that it will impact the bigger picture by and by for good or for worse.
One person resisting the temptation to spit betel nut on the street results in a cleaner and healthier street.
One person planting a tree contributes to shade, actions against global warming, providing a home for birds and other creatures.
As we review 2017 and plot the course for 2018, it would be good to remind ourselves of how each person can contribute to a meaningful change.