Happy New Year 2011
Happy New Year 2011 from the writers at WorkingShirt Online Magazine.
The candle of Amnesty International
May the new year bring peace, health and happiness to all around the world. Although it may be difficult to imagine such a perfect world, we can try and as individuals believe in this and work toward this goal.
May Sudan find its way. May Sakineh find her freedom. May those that attempt to destroy others think deeply before they act on their suicidal missions. May peace find its way to Iraq and Afghanistan. May the people of Haiti find their lives again. May reason rule and corruption end.
May all of mankind have bread on the table, an education for their children, a roof over their head and the rights of children, women and mankind become deeply entrenched in the minds of those who have power.
I wanted to put a happy new years eve photo in this article, but instead, I put the Amnesty International candle image because although we may be celebrating tonight, there are those who suffer and continue to suffer, more than we will ever know.
Philosophy of Life A boat is docked in a tiny Mexican fisihng village.A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took to catch them. Not very long. they answered in unison. Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more? The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families. But what do you do with the rest of your time? We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life. “We have a full life. The tourist interrupted, I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!You should start by fisihng longer every day.You can then sell the extra fish you catch.With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. And after that? With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles , or even New York City !From there you can direct your huge new enterprise. How long would that take? Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years. replied the tourist. And after that? Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting, answered the tourist, laughing. When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions! Millions? Really? And after that? asked the fishermen. After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children,catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends. With all due respect sir, but that’s exactly what we are doing now. So what’s the point wasting twenty-five years? asked the Mexicans. And the moral of this story is:Know where you’re going in life, you may already be there! Many times in life, money is not everything.“Live your life before life becomes lifeless”