Emirati youth are torchbearers of the Spirit of the Union

Pride and confidence were reborn with the 40th Spirit of the Union celebrations. The Emirati youth were awakened to a lovely reality, when the nightmare of being labelled "unproductive" or "stripped from culture/westernised" ended with the declaration of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in the "Spirit of the Union" speech that "the youth are the future and we, as leaders, rely on them and their ability to shoulder the responsibility and take the initiative to build their future and the future of the generations to come to achieve the national goals, hopes and aspirations of their people."

That brought us back to that hopeful day when our late father, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan said: "Youth is the real wealth of the nation."

We lost our confidence for a while when all we heard from some people was your generation is "useless and hopeless" but that only created a challenge that we strove to overcome. Here we are back again with the constant support of this country's leadership, here we are more encouraged to achieve, not with a selfish ‘me' mentality but for the country that fought so hard for us to get to where we are. Here we are more energised than ever, to give back.

That responsibility was started 12 hours later, it was a beautiful ending to a beautiful celebration and the sun of new beginnings shined when #CleanUpUAE started trending in Twitter, a campaign that was initiated by Emiratis to clean up after the celebrations that happened on major streets in various emirates.

With the majority being Emirati youth and some children and adults, they grabbed their cleaning equipment and hit the streets of their emirate and those who weren't able to participate, made sure they dropped off refreshments and snacks. That day, a portrayed was broken. Emiratis can no longer be portrayed as arrogant or lazy. It was the speech that Shaikh Mohammad gave, a story he recited that moved us. He told us of our history and of the struggles our founding fathers faced, of how far we came in 40 years. It wasn't a rigid history class lesson, but it was an inspiring story told by an inspiring leader and father. A story we've always heard from many people but somehow the way this one was told just reached straight to our hearts.

Work hard

All the luxuries we took for granted and thought were our God-given rights are now valuable assets that we will work hard to maintain and develop, beginning with our knowledge.

The Spirit of the Union is what was built in us by default and in moments like when General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, going down to perform the traditional dance with the troupe during the celebrations. We saw the union and felt it.

It was in every tweet and re-tweet by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the UAE, supporting many initiatives and starting one that calls for putting a UAE flag on every house we saw the union. When all of a sudden my beautiful city was covered in red, white, green and black, I saw the impact of our humble leadership that has an open door policy with its people. We see our late father Shaikh Zayed in every one of our leaders and realise how blessed we are everyday.

A wise man once said, "A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves." The UAE was and is lead by great leaders, and I say that with emphasis on the plural form.

It is the responsibility of us as the youth of this country to carry on with the legacy. It is not just a statement we make or a flag we raise but it is a responsibility we carry, not only on December 2 but everyday of the year. So let our actions speak louder than our words; let's strive to learn more, to achieve more, to overcome more challenges and never settle for less because we are the children of Shaikh Zayed and we need to live up to that magnificent label.

Today, with a new chapter filled with motivation, we, as the youth and future of this country promise to continue the journey with hearts that were and always will be united.

Fatma Al Falasi is a young Emirati writer who reflects on social issues that relate to Emirati youth. You can follow her at www.twitter.com/Fatmalfalasi