Latvian President in his New Year's address calls on people to take lives in their own hands

RIGA - Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in his New Year's address called on people not to sit with their hands in the lap, but take lives in their own hands.

He said that there can be various reasons why sometimes goals are not reached. Yet the greatest cause is not trying at all - if you do not try, you will never succeed. You must try. It is better to try and fail than not to try at all.

The president mentioned Latvian folk tales as one can find beauty and values that teach kindness and humbleness in them. That encourages us to look beyond appearances and recognize a person’s true character. These are important values. "All we must do is to make our own decisions and act," Rinkevics said.

"It is time to drop the 'it is what it is' mindset. No. Instead, we will decide and we will act upon it. We need to get away from an 'there is nothing I can do' mentality and remind ourselves 'I can'. Let us avoid the 'what difference can I make' attitude. Instead, we should focus on 'I can, and I will'," the president underscored.

"We must not put up with injustice. Let us not accept it just 'for the sake of peace'. True peace can only exist based on justice," he said.

We do not have to helplessly go with the flow. We must shape the flow ourselves. As we can see, there are people in Latvia who can create "The Flow" that is currently followed by the world. This is no surprise. It is a result of hard work. And I am happy about that," the president noted.

The president called on the people to write new stories and create new dreams. "About us. About Latvia. About the wonders of our time. About people who are aspiring. About people with courage. About people who never give up.About people full of love," he said.

"A story in which the right time is always our time. The time of Latvia and our people. Then it will no longer be a fairy tale, but a reality," Rinkevics concluded.