IF.......

Well.......
Headlines in the news today suggests a coming recession in the UK. Frankly, I think we may be in one already and have been for some months, it's just taking statisticians to catch up and produce their reports and for the government to decide to release the bad news..... bit like pulling teeth for them, I'm sure.

So....... beware all those currently working in middle management! Area Sales Managers, Team Leaders, Department Sub-Heads... or anyone else with some kind of contrived job title that implies limited seniority. The knives are likely being sharpened by those the other side of the firewall ready for the inevitable cull of the workforce. Pressure will come to bear upon everyone. Folk will fear for the safety of their own jobs and revert to self preservation at all costs. There will likely be much heartache, anger, bitterness, nepotism, fear, bullying..... to name a few!

I sense I'm fortunate in the job I now do to be safer on that front than in the past, however, I do feel for those out there, particularly in the commercial world who will suffer. Having seen the end of Wimbledon tennis, I'm reminded of Rudyard Kiplings supportive poem in times such as these. Wise words that I'm sure will help.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Right
Now lets redress the balance with something less depressing.
Here's a video I created of the band I play for. Betteshanger.. Enjoy