One of the signature songs of Whitney Houston was the Emmy Award winning "One Moment in Time", which she recorded for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Paralympics held in Seoul, South Korea.
The song captures the importance of seizing life's key moments in the pursuit of one's dreams. The late Jackson Burnside made the same point in the documentary, "Brent Malone, Father of Bahamian Art", produced by Karen Arthur and Thomas Neuwirth.
Burnside made the point at the end of the documentary that Malone recognized that we all have a relatively brief moment in time to share our gifts and express ourselves in our own unique voice.
It was a poignant reminder by Jackson Burnside who himself would soon leave us almost as suddenly as Brent Malone. Burnside also lived his life exuberantly taking to heart what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described as the fierce urgency of now.
The aphorism, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration", captures the idea that a good measure of one's life is not only about seizing the moment. It is about seizing as many moments as possible to make a life worth living. In the end, the moments missed and those seized add up.
Tribute
Last weekend the country paid tribute to Tommy Robinson at the grand opening of the new national stadium named in his honor. Tommy Robinson can look back on his athletic career and his contributions to national life with great pride. Because he seized many moments during that career, he will be immortalized in the annals of Bahamian history.
The opening of the new national stadium has been fodder for some political back-and-forth. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham can rightly claim that the gift of the stadium was made possible because of the diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China by his government in 1997.
In fact, Ingraham can justly claim that all the benefits The Bahamas is receiving from its relationship with China - financing for Baha Mar and the construction of the new gateway project -- are because of that important foreign policy decision.
It should be remembered that the PLP government had short-sightedly recognized Taiwan and had named an ambassador to Taipei before the 1992 general election. That decision would not have been in the long-term interest of The Bahamas.
Nevertheless, Opposition Leader Perry Christie can claim that it was his government that negotiated the actual agreement for the stadium.
Herein is the cautionary tale to seize the day, or the proverbial 'strike while the iron is hot'. In the end, it was the Ingraham administration that undertook the hard work of actually getting the stadium built and planning and executing the comprehensive development of the site. The plaque that memorializes the grand opening will forever bear the name Hubert Alexander Ingraham.
Indecision
Christie has often been tagged with the moniker "late again", which speaks to his propensity for delay and indecision. Christie could have gotten the stadium started, if not completed, on his watch.
But as with a number of other things, he and his colleagues succumbed to the folly that they would have more time to complete various projects in the second term that they did not get. It is a folly of human nature to which many have succumbed.
Hubert Ingraham is propelled by the fierce urgency of now. What he has often had to face is that some people can often only digest so much change at a time, and that others who cry out for change are not always prepared to endure the temporary inconveniences of change. But he will rarely succumb to putting off until tomorrow what he can accomplish today.
The truth is as simple as it is compelling. Not only are we not promised tomorrow, we aren't even sure how the rest of the day will turn out. Often in life, delay means never. There is a quote attributed to the German poet Goethe that captures the fierce urgency of now: "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.
"All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events, issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no one could have dreamed would have come their way. Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius and magic in it. Begin it now."
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