I spoke with my good friend Robert yesterday evening – you know when you meet someone who you just click with – that’s him! We met in Dubai last year for the Arab Beverage Industry Seminar, where AQUAPAX won the ‘Best Bottled Water of the Year’. He and I celebrated appropriately as old friends might, despite having only known one another a few days – we’ve kept in touch ever since; as friends do!
Robert was telling me how Mr. Obama’s ‘change and hope’ campaign message has translated in his home state of Michigan to the fact that ‘change’ has now come and people ‘hope’ they can keep hold of their homes… It seems the unemployment in his home state is pretty severe and I really feel for him and his young family.
That got me thinking – as this time of year often does, on some of the wisdom gained during the past 12 months. It’s good to reflect and hopefully not make so many mistakes next year…
- My conscience doesn’t abide by ‘majority rule’.
- A wise man holds his tongue when he’s right because even fools are right sometimes.
- No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted and no man is as poor as a man unable to give anything.
- Take time to think – my mind grows rich from what it receives, but my heart from what it gives.
- Finish every day and be done with it – being happy at home is my ultimate goal. Worry won’t rob tomorrow’s sorrow but it will sap today’s joy.
- Perseverance is not a long race; it’s a series of short races in succession.
- I can’t win if I don’t begin – failure is often the line of least persistence.
- I will not dwell on where I fell but will identify where I slipped.
- I will do more of the things I think I can’t do; doing the impossible is fun – especially when you watch other’s reactions!
- Money does not really change people – it merely unmasks them.
- Words are like stones and can’t be recalled – unlike stones they often have little substance…
Finally, a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that I hold dear: – “Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes”
Happy New Year to you dear reader, remember, AQUAPAX are the future… 🙂
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