ON THE WALLABY- 19th December 2006

” All men dream, but not equally for the Dreamers of the Night awaken to find it was merely their vanity. The Dreamers of the Day are the dangerous ones, for they dream with their eyes open and they make things happen”. – Lawrence of Arabia in his classic book “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”

GOODBYE 2006, HELLO ‘07

As this will be my last OTW before Christmas, I’ll to take the opportunity of wishing all my Christian subscribers a happy and safe Christmas break and to our followers of other creeds, also a safe and happy time over this late December period.

2006 has been a very strange, if somewhat cathartic, period for me in which I had a number of personal issues that confronted me and which nearly crippled my business (and my life) but which in overcoming, I finally, at 60 years of age, came to know and be comfortable with who I really am and what makes me tick.

I have deliberately chosen the words of Lawrence of Arabia for this OTW as they not only sum up very much my view of life but also reinforce the hope, indeed prayer, that 2007 can see emerge on the Australian and world political stages, men and women who have compassion and vision along with the courage to carry it through.

It seems to me that over the last decade we have suffered badly from a paucity of real talent and instead have been inflicted with bloody ordinary performers and liars who masquerade under the title “statesmen”.

Over the last year, the two quotations of “physician heal thyself” and “to thyself be true” have come to have special meaning for me as I travelled down the valleys of life and emerged into the sunlight again, so my heartfelt feelings go out to those who are suffering at this special time of year.

As we Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, it seems to me the realisation that Christmas starts in your heart and not under a tree is becoming more and more important as the years pass.

How much sadness and hardship will be caused, although initially it will be joy as consumer driven children open their presents on Christmas Day, by parents seeking “to keep up with the Joneses” and spending past their limits on Christmas presents?

Being a country boy in upbringing and heart, it saddens me enormously to watch as Mother Nature drives (yet again) country folk, be they based on farms or in towns, to the brink of despair and in far too many cases, to suicide.

In my lifetime I have been through three major droughts, the first in 1965/67 and the last in 2002/3 and which contributed largely to my decision to move back to Sydney from Rockhampton, for whilst my former wife felt we had “done our arse” in Rocky, the fact was that I had seen far too many businesses and people carry on just a tad too far in drought times and lose it all and I was not prepared to join that statistic. As country music singing legend Kenny Rogers wrote in his hit The Gambler, “you have to know when to hold them/ know when to fold them/know when to walk away and know when to run” and I did.

I know first hand what mental and financial anguish can be caused to those who are grasped in natures tentacles for, unlike a business that is trading badly or ill advisedly, and which can be corrected by more skilled management, with a drought, you are reliant on one thing and one thing alone and that is RAIN.

Without rain, as the burghers of most Australian cities are now learning, the water supply simply drops, and drops, and drops and with that, the physical condition of livestock and as sure as night follows day, their monetary value to say nothing of their health and well being.

With these factors comes a tightening of the purse strings and that in turn, puts pressure on the many small businesses servicing rural towns and thus the downward spiral continues.

In this column for many years I have cried the call to be aware of water, and a number of times I have used as my lead in quotation, the one of ¬¬"whisky is for drinking and water is for fighting over” and which emanated from the late 1800s Californian gold rush days.

Sadly, here and now we are finding the same circumstances in Australia.

Be that as it may, the fact is that life is the greatest gift given any of us. Let us then use it wisely and live it to the utmost. Just don’t exist, LIVE and come to see the truth in the saying that ”life is but a loan with experience as the interest”!

If, over Christmas, you see someone doing it a bit hard, either financially or emotionally, how about giving them a smile and a cheerful “g’day mate”? It may be the only one they get that day and it may well brighten their day as well at nil cost to you.

“THE TOUCH OF THE MASTERS HAND”

I have reproduced this wonderful poem, not because it pertains to an auctioneer and an auction scene, but because at this time of year, we should do more than just “hail fellow, well met and get rowdy etc”.

It seems to me that all too often we overlook others strengths, especially in this day of consumer driven psyche and maybe, just maybe, if we all stood back and took the meaning of this poem to heart, we may well, inadvertently as it probably will be, see the real meaning of Christmas.

It goes:

T’was battered and scarred, and the old auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin
But held it up with a smile

“What am I bid, good folks” he cried
“Who’ll start the bidding for me”?
“A dollar, a dollar, then “Two”
“Only two? Two dollars and who’ll make it three”
Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three”
But NO!!

From the room far back, a grey haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening the loose strings
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings

The music ceased, and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low
Said ”what am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow

A thousand! And who’ll make it two?
Two thousand and who’ll make it three??
Three thousand once- three thousand twice
And going, going, gone said he

The people cheered, and some of them cried
“we do not quite understand”
“what’s changed it’s worth”
swift came the reply,
The touch of the Masters Hand

And many a man, with life out of tune
And battered and scarred with the sun,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd
Much like this old violin

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine
A game and he travels on
He is “going once”, “going twice”
He’s “going” and almost “gone”

But the Master comes and the foolish crowd
Can never quite understand’
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
BY THE TOUCH OF THE MASTERS HAND!

Have a great break and Sam and I wish you all the very best for a healthy and profitable 2007.

Carpe diem

Tony

Tony Fountain

Professional Speaker, auctioneer and author

Sydney NSW Australia

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