A new week is upon us and how lucky we are to be alive and able to participate in the future. You know, time marches on every new day, every new hour, every new minute,  every new second is a step forward into the future.

The whole world is on an endless forward march. But individually, not all of us are moving forward. Some of us find it hard to let go of the past. And I really understand this difficulty.

 Moving on can be the most difficult task a human can face . When bad things happen in a persons life it can change everything. It's like being  on a journey to an unknown destinationation, travelling along an unfamiliar route  just following directions. And then suddenly , you come across a road block which your directions did not warn you about. It changes your journey. You  think about having to go back the way you came to find another route . What a hassle! The first route you try may not get you back, neither the second nor the third. At this point continuing your journey starts to look less and less like a good idea, so you turn round and go home, choosing to let the obstacle  defeat you, rather than find a way past it.

 This happens to all of us at one point or the other. Bad things happen and we lose the will to move forward. Your business fails and the last thing you want to do is start another business. You study for ages and fail your exam and the very idea of going through all of that again with no guarantee of success just sucks the vim out of you. You trust somebody with  all your heart and they let you down, making the idea of trusting anyone - much less the same person - again, seem rather futile. Yeah, when bad things happen moving forward can be the hardest thing to do.

But maybe we are looking at it all from the wrong perspective. Maybe the reason why we find it hard to move on is because we think we have a choice in the matter. My people, time marches on. Every new second, every new minute, every new hour, every new day , time marches on whether you march with it or not. And in order for a new day to come, an old one must pass. In order for  joy to come in the morning,  the pain of the night must pass. The two can't exist at the same time in your life, just as the sun and the moon aren't both usually in the sky at the same time. One must go for the other to come.

When your business goes bankrupt , you feel like a failure. It becomes hard to see that success is waiting on the other side of your obstacle. When you fail your exams and you find yourself back to square one, the last thing you feel like doing is making the whole journey again and finding your way around your obstacles. But you see, you don't really have a choice in the matter.

Time marches on, and you either march with it or you get left behind. You may be forced to start again, but at least that returns you to your forward journey . And forward is the only option available to us.

When somebody breaks your heart the journey no longer seems worth it, but try not to forget that pain must go for joy to come. Happiness is guaranteed only if you muster the strength to resume your journey. Sometimes, it may mean giving somebody new the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, it may mean giving someone old a second chance. Either way, your only choice is to resume your journey and keep moving forward, leaving pain in your rear view mirror and heading towards the joy that comes in the morning

My friends if you have been through hard times, and your future seems full of obstacles, making you want to give up and go home, please remember that you don't really have a  choice in the matter. Time marches on, and you have no choice but to march on with it. If your route is blocked, you can't go back. Try every route until you find the one that takes you back onto to your forward journey.

My name is Kojo Yankson, and the future is bright, so I'm marching towards it, side by side with you.

GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!