The Salary Axiom

The pay raise is just large enough 

to increase your taxes 

and just small enough 

to have no effect on your take-home pay.

Abraham Lincoln's Letter to His Son's Teacher

He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just,
all men are not true.
But teach him also that
for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician,
there is a dedicated leader...
Teach him for every enemy there is a
friend,

Steer him away from envy,
if you can,
teach him the secret of
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick... 

Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books...
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far honourable to fail
than to cheat...
Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
they are wrong...
Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon...
Teach him to listen to all men...
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through.

Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad...
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness...
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
to a howling mob
and to stand and fight
if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient...
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do...
He is such a fine fellow,
my son!

Salary Hike

Small Things That Matter...

A friend of mine opened his wife’s underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper- wrapped package:

‘This, – he said – isn’t any ordinary package.’  He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

‘She got this the first time we went to New York, 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on, was saving it for a special occasion.’

Well, I guess this is it.  He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died. He turned to me and said:

‘Never save something for a special occasion.  Every day in your life is a special occasion’. I still think those words changed my life.

• Now I read more and clean less.
• I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.
• I spend more time with my family, and less at work.
• I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.
• I no longer keep anything.
• I use crystal glasses every day…
• I’ll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.
• I don’t save my special perfume for special occasions; I use it whenever I want to

The words ‘Someday….’ and ‘ One Day…’ are fading away from my dictionary.  If it’s worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now!

I don’t know what my friend’s wife would have done if she knew she wouldn’t be there the next morning.  This, nobody can tell.  I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.  She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.  I’d like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favorite food.

It’s these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no one!

Bachpan ka zamana hota tha...

Bachpan ka zamana hota tha

Khushiyon ka khazana hota tha

Chahat chand ko paane ki,

Dil titli ka diwana hota tha,

Khabar na thi kuch subah ki,

Naa shaam ka thikana hota tha,

Thak-haar ke aana school se,

Par khelne bhi jaana hota tha,

Doston ki kahani hoti thi

Pariyon ka fasana hota tha

Barish main kagaz ki kasti thi

har mausam suhana hota tha

Har khel me sathi hote the

Har rista nibhana hota tha

Papa ki woh dante galti par

Mummy ka manana hota tha

Gum ki zubaan na hoti thi

Na zakhmo ka paimana hota tha

Rone ke wajah na hoti thi

Na hasne ka bahana hota tha

Ab naa rahi woh zindagi...jaisa

Bachpan ka zamana hota tha

Graphs That Speak To Real Life Situations

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older

woman that she should bring her own grocery bags

because plastic bags weren't good for the

environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained,

"We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

 The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. 

Your generation did not care enough to save our

environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the

green thing back in our day...   Did we 'not care enough'...?

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soft drink and

beer bottles to the store. The store sent them

back to the plant to be washed and sterilized

and refilled, so it could use the same bottles

over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an

escalator in every store and office building. We

walked to the grocery store and didn't climb

into a 200-horsepower machine every time we had

to go half a mile.

But he was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we

didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried

clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling

machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar

power really did dry the clothes. Kids got

hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters,

not always brand-new clothing. But that cashier is right;

We didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in

every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a

handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Tasmania.

 In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand

because we didn't have electric machines to do

everything for us.

 When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail,

we used a scrunched up old newspaper to cushion it,

not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

 Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol

just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran

on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't

need to go to a gym to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But he's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

  We drank from reusable glasses when we were thirsty instead

of using a disposable cup or a plastic bottle every time we had

a drink of water.

 We refilled fountain pens with ink instead of buying a

new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor

instead of throwing away the whole razor just

because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the tram or a bus and kids rode

their bikes to school or walked instead of turning themselves /

their parents into a 24-hour limousine service.

 We had one power socket in a room, not an entire

bank of them to power a dozen appliances. And we

didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a

signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in

space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how

wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't

have the green thing back then?

   The Green Thing...