"xxx."
- x

The Farmer and his Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

• Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
• Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
• Live simply and appreciate what you have.
• Give more.
• Expect less

Now…
Enough of that crap… The donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had  tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

Moral from today's lesson:
When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

"xxx."
- Burke Franklin

Attention BizPlanBuilder 10 users

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"A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought.
There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor."
- Victor Hugo

TIPS -- xxx

xxx

Scroll down to see our new LoanBuilder software!

"My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me."
- Benjamin Disraeli

xxx

xxx

- Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy, www.marketing-alchemy.com

Do you have an article or some useful advice that you you'd like to share?
Please email the editor with your news to appear in Business Black Belt as well as on our website.

"Statistics:
The only science that enables different experts
using the same figures to draw different conclusions."
- Evan Esar (1899-1995), American Humorist

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"

This is the poem:

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I  like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance  between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
Remember to always say what you mean.
If you love someone, tell them.
Don't be afraid to express yourself.
Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you.
Because when you decide that it is the right time it might be too late.
Seize the day. Never have regrets.
And most  importantly, stay close to your friends and family, for they
have helped make you the person that you are today.

"
- x

Tax Tricks -- xxx

xxx

- Edward Mitchell, Manager, Management Resources Consulting Group Inc., www.mr-cg.com

"xxx."
- x

Congratulations to all the kids who were born in the1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !

• First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
• They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
• Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
• We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
• As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
• Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
• We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
• We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
• We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...
• WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
• We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
• No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
• We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
• We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms...
• WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
• We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
• We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
• We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
• Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!
• The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And, while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

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