(First published by Anonymous, adapted to Australia originally in 2008 by David Beaumont around the time of the Global Financial Crisis.The moral of the story still rings true! Take a dose of "Positivity" )
There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he read no newspapers and of course he didn’t look at television, but he sold good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were. His favourite cry was “Buy a hot dog mister, they’re the best in town”. And people bought. He had a good product and he liked his customers. Business was going well, he increased his orders for buns and meat. He even thought about buying a bigger stove. Business continued to expand, so much so that he got his son home from university to help. But then something happened … “Dad,” said the son, “haven’t you been reading the papers or listening to the radio or watching the television, there’s a recession coming, Australia’s economy is in a mess. The dollar’s falling out of the sky, people are afraid to spend, GST is a burden, people are working harder to get nowhere and the government doesn’t seem to know or care.” The son continued, “you’ll have to cut down on orders and forget about the new oven and extra advertising signs”. So the father said, “my son knows these things, he’s been to university. I will follow his advice and won’t bother standing out by the side of the road. Maybe I should tell all my friends about this” And guess what? … His hot dog sales fell away dramatically. Whilst alarmed about these events, the old man took great comfort in knowing that his son would go far in life. After all, business fell away just as he had predicted and the recession had certainly started. Action Tip Share this story with as many people as you can. It’s time to fight “negativity” and “pessimism” with a good old dose of “positivity”. Lead the charge!