“You cant connect the dots looking forward…..You can only connect the dots looking backwards.”

‘Good morrow’, my merry maidens and jaunty gentlemen, all chivalrous citizens of

culture and commerce. This is the seventeenth day in the furry month of February in

the Chinese Year of the Rooster; and in the Gregorian calendar, the seventeenth

year of the second Millennium.

I have decided to travel back four hundred years. The Bard of Stafford-upon Avon

has just died, so I shall attempt to write in that ancient idiom in the hope that you will

understand what I have to say. It will take more effort on your part, but if you are still

determined and dearly wish to take that step forward, you will succeed.

OK I shall have one more sip of my Château Lafitte Rothschild 1949….ahh! Now it is

back to the past to try to understand the future.

I hereby go forth, like Icarus towards the Sun, to extend my loving arms to those

whose lives seem as stagnant as a fly-blown ewe trapped in the waters of the

flooded River Tigris. But wait, those muddy waters soon recede and the Ram of the

flock arrives to save his beloved mate. By springtime, new-born lambs frolic in the

nearby pastures green

Or…

Maybe sheep cannot read that which I offer thy good selves, hoping it will spur one

and all to wrap themselves in the constructive cloak of life, as the chimes of midnight

in yonder tower beckon one to act now,

TAKE COURAGE! Like the troubled Prince of Denmark, it is the ability to do

something which frightens him. ‘To be, or not to be? That is the question.

BE BRAVE! To face any ordeal, one must muster all one’s courage for whatever

time it takes, whether it be one day, one week, one month, one year – like King

Henry V in France prior to the Battle of Agincourt – ‘Once more unto the breach’

.

‘All that glisters is not gold’, says Portia in ‘The Merchant of Venice’. Bear that

quotation in your mind-set as you peruse the ensuing text….

Whichever task, large or small, one is called upon to tackle, regardless of importance

or reward, one must muster oneself to undertake that task, at all times, to the best of

one’s ability, neither feigning fatigue nor citing ill health. Herewith is an example

even Shylock, Portia’s father, the crafty Merchant of Venice dare not contemplate:

When with besom broom, sweeping vigorously across the cold stone slabs, around

the reclining seat upon that floor, then twice more around the nearby straw matting

for slumbering upon when darkness fell, then pausing to wipe one’s weary, furrowed

brow, one espies the carcass of a dead rat, hitherto unnoticed on yet another soiled

slab, one would not even consider, ‘methinks on the morrow shall I sweep away that

diseased, deceased morsel’. Such arrogance would not be tolerated, instead

punished excessively.

LESSON I: Beginneth NOW your proposed venture.

LESSON II: Seek and maketh conversation NOW with investors & money-lenders.

LESSON III: Train NOW to make thy dreams come true.

LESSON IV: Plan thy future NOW!

COURAGE, DETERMINATION, DEDICATION – WHATEVER THE EXPENDITURE!

THEN VICTORY WILL BE THINE OWN REWARD – CHAMPION GLADIATOR,

THE MIDAS TOUCH WILL BE THINE FOREVER MORE.

THY TRUE CHARACTER WILL EMERGE HENCEFORTH IF ONE FOLLOWS

ONE’S OWN PATH EVEN WHEN NO-ONE NOTICES.

THE SAME PATTERN WILL THEREFORE NEXT BE OBSERVED WHEN ALL

CREATURES ARE PRESENT.

Which creature fits most thy character – wolf or sheep, leader or follower? Doth thy

babble on to fellow countrymen, not about one’s intended riches but about thy ready

wealth? ‘To thine own self be true’.

We doth pause for a moment to imagine the noble Roman soldier, Mark Antony, in

the year of 59BC, on the steps of the Forum in the center of this ancient city,

proclaiming to the citizens below:

‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears

My illustrious career is just beginning but my intentions are clear

Whether it be the glorious villa I intend to erect on one of the seven hills surrounding

this Imperial city – or the imposing Chariot flanked by 6 white stallions I wish to

acquire ere three years are out,

I am here to speak what I do know and shall hereby devote my own self to those

present here, for the betterment of all our futures’

Cheers ring out from the throng gathered at the Forum, inspired by the integrity and

the promises of this honorable young soldier.

TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK..

Three years have elapsed. It is now the year 56BC. Mark Antony is still a young

soldier. He has not yet met his mentor, Julius Caesar. He is ambitious but he hath

not yet acquired the ability to focus and concentrate his mind upon his strengths and

ideals. Nevertheless, clad in his white toga trimmed with gold, the tall, lean soldier.

once again ascends the steps of the Forum to address the same group of citizen

followers and supporters.

‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

Plans are still afoot to erect my sumptuous villa on one of the Seven Hills of this

glorious city of Rome.

The intention to acquire a golden chariot is yet to occur because….’

By now, his disappointed disciples no longer lend their ears to his list of excuses and

negative thoughts and wander from the Forum to an edifice nearby, the vast,

imposing Coliseum, there to experience exciting gladiatorial combat, a more

rewarding pastime, with a positive outcome. Mark Antony stands alone, by now a

braying ass his only witness.

Think of this, my good fellows, unlike Mark Antony in 53BC ….

In those three years….

Hast thy career prospects improved?

Hast thou added to thy savings?

Canst thy please oneself to do whatever one wishes at all times?

THAT, MY DEAR FELLOWS – IN ANY ERA, IN ANY MILLENNIUM –

IS LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL!

MORE QUESTIONS  – IN ANY ERA, IN ANY MILLENNIUM TO ASK ONESELF….

Where am I going?

What do I want to achieve?

Am I doing all I can to be the best I can be?

Am I improving myself – or really procrastinating?

Am I positive – or a complainer?

ALWAYS REMEMBER

Men and women were built for a purpose, to procreate, to provide, to prosper –

not sit around, not doing anything.

It is lack of direction, not lack of time –that is the problem.

If you are always tired and feel unhappy, then have the strength and courage to

change your life.

Be like a hungry lion, take the right direction, be consistent, be persistent, be clever.

You will get what you need and what you deserve.

BUT….

‘If you want to keep on getting what you are getting, keep on doing what you are

doing’

To continue the path to achieve your goal, you will have to change – not your hair

color, your car, your abode or your spouse! That is not real change. I am talking

about changing your – MIND!

If I want to start my own business, I shall take that risk. I will take courses, study hard

to be the master of my own destiny.

Will REAL change be easy? NO IT WON’T!!

Will there be times you want to give up? YES –AND OFTEN!!

Will you make mistakes? YES!! But you will learn from those mistakes.

Will it make you a better person? – Hell YEAH!!!

Throughout my life I have had to change, and to learn from my mistakes in order to

start business – I am still learning NOW!

But I embrace change; I enjoy change; I look forward to the challenge every day of

my life. Why?

That’s what winners do, going with passion after that change, that dream, that goal!

Stop been a victim, just waiting for good things to happen to you. Start saying, ‘I am

going to make it – in whatever field I choose.

Stop saying you are ‘broke’. Start saying, “I have a temporary cash flow problem”.

Stop saying you are having a bad day. Start saying, ‘I’m having a character

building day.”

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND!

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR CAREER!

YOU CAN CHANGE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE – ACCENTUATE THE

POSITIVE, ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE!

THEN….

YOU CAN BECOME NUMBER ONE IN YOUR CHOSEN FIELD!

Human beings can become anything they want to be – we have GREATNESS

WITHIN US!

CUT OUT NEGATIVITY

CUT OUT MEDIOCRITY

INSTEAD…

CHASE THE PASSION

CHASE THE DREAM

MOST OF ALL ..

ENJOY THE PROCESS!

We are such stuff that dreams are made on

And our little life is rounded with a sleep’

The sands of time are in reverse and thee is now neareth those forty years ere the

virgin birth of Jesus Christ in a stable in the little town of Bethlehem in the land of

Caanan.

Mark Antony the dashing Roman soldier and politician, has become a supporter of

the distinguished Roman General, Julius Caesar.

Did Mark Antony fulfill his dream after his appointment as Caesars right – hand man?

He served as one of his Generals in the conquest of Gaul and played an important

role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from an oligarchy into the

autocratic Holy Roman Empire. He was a very successful man with a lifestyle to

match. He remained loyal towards Caesar, warned of a plot to assassinate him the

previous evening and gave the oration at Caesar’s funeral – in the poetic words of

the Bard of Avon, one Will Shakespeare, one thousand and six hundred years Hence.

‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones:

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious;

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answered it.

YES, Mark Antony fulfilled his dream in terms of his career.

BUT his complex personal life wreaked havoc on himself and others. He was

profligate with money, married thrice, including Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt who bore

him three children. And in 31BC, at the age of 52, he took his own life.

LEARN FROM THIS…DEDICATION AND DISCIPLINE ABOVE DESIRE.

BEAR IN MIND THESE WORDS FROM THE GREAT BARD…

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts.

HERE ENDETH MY BLOG: ANCIENT & MODERN ….

WHY DID I DO THIS?

‘To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.’