I am making an assumption but might Scott McLellan be upset with “A modest proposal” as a cynical attack on all business. I am all for business ventures. Business ventures allowed me to retire at 55 without a pension but with a comfortable level of financial independence. That is what we all need. All the stores on Mill Street are ventures. We should be trying to help them be successful. What is success? For me it is enough to retire without a pension while avoiding the Top 5 Regrets Bronnie Ware found as a palliative care nurse.
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I didn’t work so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Success won’t come for those satisfying their peculiar insatiable need for ever more wealth. The measure of success for business ventures, that I want to encourage, will create wealth while helping people they touch to be a little less likely to have these 5 regrets. That is happening on Mill Street. I try to help in the simplest way possible by increasing the firm’s revenue lines by getting people to come to Almonte. Anything that does the opposite I have to challenge. What is so wrong with questioning motivations of those so openly playing cards close to their chest? What is so wrong with remembering the nasty experiences behind those insightful words “just trust me”.
Humour that is meant to sting, like the piece “A modest proposal”, is a warning,a sign that something or someone is not quite right. Warning signs indicate fundamental problems that need to be addressed. Bring on an environmental review. There are always negative consequences. Can they be planned for in advance or are we denying and waiting for them to happen? That type of denial I know to be a flawed practice preventing both personal and business success. Is that what we sanction? Mississippi-mills is an enriching environment with the trees, the water falls, that beautiful dawn light and most of all the people.
Don McLeod
