The great value of Cup Match is that all of us can step back from our day-to-day challenges and take a breather.This year more than most, Bermudians are living with real doubts about the Island's direction and our ability to find a way to a better future. Thousands are out of work. Family budgets are severely strained and there doesn't seem to be any relief in sight.The mood of the country is down. People are worried and our politics isn't helping. We need a break, and Cup Match might just be the antidote.We've got four days to recharge our batteries. Four days to relax. Four days to get close to family and friends, to enjoy the outdoors, watch cricket and play Crown & Anchor; four days to camp and barbecue and share some laughs.Cup Match days are days that allow us to see more clearly the life we share with each other as Bermudians. This is the magic of Cup Match.That perspective our life together as Bermudians is often lost in the grind of daily life. Cup Match gives us opportunities to see that we are members of a living, breathing, unique community of people an extended family really that has been forged by our forebears across centuries, through trial and triumph.Sure, the family is demanding and restless; sometimes ill-tempered and often fractious; but it is also proud, caring, tough, compassionate, warm, friendly and always interesting. Take the next few days to see yourself as part of the Bermudian family. There is real value in it.Cup Match is the celebration of Emancipation Day one of the pivotal moments in our long, shared history; when we got on the track to becoming a civilised society.The value of Emancipation Day is twofold for me: It reminds us how far we've come but it also underlines how far we still must go to ensure all our people are treated with fairness and equality.For that surely must be the goal: a society no longer hobbled by the divisions and injustices of the past; where fair play is the order of the day, where people have the freedom to achieve their potential, and where the sense of shared destiny and belonging helps us, finally, to pull together as one people. It is no coincidence that we celebrate Emancipation Day with Cup Match. Emancipation Day tells us we have work to do and Cup Match shows us the reward.Yes, we are in the midst of tough times, but take this holiday time to see how much we have going for us as Bermudians our talent, our energy, our identity. Take this time to appreciate the people around you. Take this time to appreciate this beautiful place in which we live. Our people, this island, have all the answers we need. We are the solution. God bless you and enjoy the holiday.Sen. Craig Cannonier is Deputy Leader of the One Bermuda Alliance