I was thinking of some flowery words to write for the end of 2021, and none came to mind.

Then I thought of some other flowery words for the beginning of 2022, and none came to mind.

As a matter of fact, there may be more than enough flowery words being written by others for today's edition.

So no need for me to add to that garden.

What there may not be enough of in the coming days, weeks and months of 2022 are words of stark reality.

Flowery words won’t change the trajectory of the oncoming Omnicron version of Covid-19. European nations have gone into lockdown, worldwide hundreds of flights have been cancelled and global tourism has dropped near 70 per cent since 2019.

The stark reality is that sun, sea and sand won’t be the saviour of this industry.

Flowery words won’t change the fact that we, unfortunately, have lost 17 persons on our roads for this year; a 300 per cent increase over 2020.

The stark reality is that we have far too many young and not-so-young persons who think riding the third lane at twice the speed limit is par for the course. No amount of media warnings or police presence seems to alter this behaviour.

Flowery words won’t change the fact of our economic realities.

Increased spending coupled with decreased revenue equates to the deficits that we have seen for far too long.

The stark reality is that capital spending will have to be cut in order to direct funds to other avenues. So those potholes, broken railings and overgrown cane grass may very well not get attended to in the short term.

Flowery words won’t change the fact that we have fewer and fewer Bermudians able to work as skilled tradespersons. This leads to far too many of our persons not being able to find full-time employment.

The stark reality is that no matter what opportunities are available for training in our high schools and at the Bermuda College, unless our young people are constantly encouraged to take up these courses and supported along the way, we will have near-empty classrooms.

These are but just some of the challenges that we all have to face head on.

This week, around the world, there will be countless news sites full of flowery words submitted by countless leaders. The irony is that most of the public does not give much credence to these words.

The stark reality is this: until and unless we realise that no matter one’s political leanings, some issues are not going to be solved with endless criticism by anonymous bloggers or by flowery words put out every December 31.