What a day for a daydream

What a day for a day dream, what a day for a daydreaming boy.

I love that song. So I woke up early Saturday morning, completely exhausted after arriving back late Friday from a trade show. Thinking about business as usual, I opened up the newspaper and read the business columns, which really uphfted my mood. The stock market had dropped again, and retirement was looking like when I am 80.

But when I got to my astrological forecast, I got really excited. Today was going to be a good day! It was the day I have been waiting for. Now, at a time when we are all looking for that je ne sais quoi as the panacea for all the industry ills at the moment, it really caught my attention.

I am on the cusp (no wisecracks, please), split between Libra and Scorpio. When I normally read my daily stars, I decide which is the better-sounding one and go with that one (well, why pick a bad one?). But these two really intrigued me, as they were both sounding like it was going to be a truly great day.

My Libra read: "You will have at least five brilliant thoughts today."

(Only five?, I thought to myself, coclg as ever.) But even the brightest idea will never blow up bigger than the brain cell it occupied without follow through."

My Scorpio read: "Sometimes you must put out a great deal of effort to eam your way. Not now. You're better off doing less. (No problem there.) Abundance finds you when you're still and quietly optimistic." (For the time being, I'm going to lie about that one).

So now, if I understand correctly, it meant that I was going to have a lot of ideas and all I had to do was follow up, although not too much, as I wouldn't need too much effort to be successful as long as I stayed optimistic. I can do that, I thought. My ideas are going to bring me millions, no problem, easy, peasy!

So, I made my early morning tea (after all, I am a Brit by birth), sat down, and started to think. And think. And think. Nothing came. Okay, I thought, I must be doing something wrong. It had to be easier than this. Maybe I should dredge up some of my old ideas and rethink them. No, they could not have been good ideas, because I couldn't remember them.

So I sat strumming my fingers thinking that at any minute the light bulb would go off. It did not. When my wife got up and wondered what I was doing with pad and pen in hand and a furrowed brow, I asked her, in desperation, if she had any good ideas that I could run with.

"Yes," she replied, "how about going to clean out the garage like you have been promising to do for six months?" Can she never see the big picture? "No," I said. "I have to use this day profitably. Today is when our ship will come in, and I do not even have to work for it. Have faithl"

I went on the Internet, scrolled around hundreds of pages-industry sites, associations' , competitors' , manufacturers', businesses for saleand still nothing in my quest for just one good idea. Nothing! The vacation home in Tuscany was fading faster than housing starts.

So I thought to myself, you are thinking too hard. The only idea that came to me was the restaurant I wanted to eat at that evening. (As my wife would say, I am always thinking of my belly. Well, it is a big part of me and needs feeding regularly). No millions there.

And so, we went to the movies, looked in a few stores. No ideas there. Eventually the day came to an end. It came time for bed, and I was frustrated. No great idea, no easy way to riches, and back to work on Monday, working harder than ever.

And, while this is a somewhat true story with a few embellishments (if Hollywood can do it, so can I), it is a fact of life that nothing comes easy, and there is no reason why we should think it should. Good ideas do not come easy, and implementation comes even less easy. Success takes an awful lot of hard work, dedication and luck. If it was so easy, we would all be successful, wouldn't we?

So,I'm lost in a daydream, dreaming about my bundle of joy, and even if time ain't on my side, it's one of those days for taking a walk outside... and being happy for what I have.

,rr.iii;.

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