The only way now is up

A general feeling of hopelessness has been lurking in the air in South Africa recently, kind of like on Halloween – you can’t really put your finger on it, but something just feels like the twilight zone.

Loadshedding put a huge dampener on our spirits (seems the light of the sun doesn’t emit enough Vitamin D to blast away all our loadshedding blues).

Expectations

Maybe it’s the fact that we were expecting to be powered back up after Winter 2022. Expectations are the result of a lot of disappointment in life, and I think we got a big dose of disappointment last year when the dreaded power outages continued.

Then there was the increase in rain which caused potholes to widen and deepen (and not get fixed), the economy, which was and still remains incredibly challenging, a sky-rocketing unemployment rate and the state of the public education system, all really not looking very bright at the moment.

So what now for South Africa?

How do we put a spring back into our step and conjure up a fresh outlook for 2023?

Well, when we’re at the bottom, the only way to go is up. When is the best time to invest? When stocks reach a low point. South Africa is at a low point, with little to grasp onto for belief in a bright future. But this is the exact time to ‘buy’. Buy into the belief that things will improve, we will recover, and we will make this country the beautiful rainbow we all know it is. 

Remember “the one’s crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do” – Steve Jobs. We don’t even have to change the world, just our little part of it.

Sure, it’s easy to complain, blame the government, corruption blah blah blah and sit in a puddle of doom and gloom. But… what if we, as the whole nation of South Africa, dig deep into our golden roots. What if we stand up out of that puddle and refuse to back down, and refuse to give up on our homeland. What if, by some miracle, we wake up tomorrow morning and just decide that we’re lucky to be living in such an energy-rich country (we have lots of sunshine and wind), with so much potential. What if we pretend to be those investors who have found a stock at its low point and decide to jump right in and invest (with our hearts, minds and good intentions). 

Shifting our Mindset

So let’s decide to have a collective New Year’s Resolution to invest in South Africa symbolically. Invest in opportunities wherever we see them, and in any way we can. Create more, recycle more, use what we have to do whatever we can do for our country.

Because if we don’t, nobody else will.

This article has been featured on The Good Things Guy website.

About the author:

Deborah Aremband is a Communication Specialist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She focuses on writing, editing and proofreading content primarily thought-leadership articles, client communication, blog posts, website content, proposals and reports. Over 15 years, her career has spanned several industries in South Africa and abroad. 

Her unique exposure to both the corporate world and small business has enabled her to hone her skills in providing clients with captivating content, fit for purpose.