Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth

Few things are as annoying as unsolicited advice,for within it lies the assumption of superior wisdom.(So when you tell a person your PLAN for what THEY should do,always be aware that they secretly want to punch you in the mouth.)Uh-oh. Did I just give you some unsolicited advice?Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson was listening to a reporter tell him how his opponent planned to beat him in their upcoming boxing match. Mike famously replied, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”There are other interpretations of Mike’s famous saying, too. Like how “Plan B” is for when a business person gets punched in the mouth by unforeseen circumstances, and how “Plan C” is for when they get punched in the mouth a second time. When my boss, the wizard, was chancellor of Wizard Academy, he got all the way down to “Plan D,” and now Daniel Whittington is putting together “Plan E” because, you know, Covid.Hey! You want a PDF download of the 1998 Business Book of the Year, The Wizard of Ads?  Here you go! (I don’t know how it works in other browsers, but in Safari you’ll find “Export as PDF” under your FILE pulldown.)If it seems like my paragraphs aren’t connected to each other, it’s probably because all my experience is in the rabbit hole and beagles are easily distracted.Speaking of “distracted,” Gabrielle Roth writes,“If you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions. When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence? Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experienced the loss of soul. Dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves.”I don’t know how it is with people, but dogs are born knowing this!Dance! Sing! Be Enchanted by Stories! Celebrate Silence!It’s really not that hard. Just imitate a happy dog.Samuel Butler was born in 1835 and even though that was a long time ago, Samuel understood the happiness of dogs:“The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.”Dale Carnegie said,“Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see a bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.”I guess it’s time to take this plane in for a landing now because the wizard gave me a target word-count and we’re getting pretty close to it. Keep in mind that I’m flying solo for the first time, okay?Here’s my summary, from a beagle’s point-of-view:The events of 2020 will leave their marks on us for the rest of our lives. Having been forced into a more introspective existence by the Covid, many people learned things about themselves that had previously been suppressed.Self-aware people experienced solitude and emerged from it less fixated on the outward trappings of success, and more concerned about the quality of their relationships and their inner lives.Persons unwilling to examine themselves experienced isolation and are filled with anxiousness about things returning to “how they used to be.”There. That’s it. Our wheels have touched the ground.“This is your captain speaking. Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at our destination. We know you have a choice in air travel, and we want to thank you for choosing to fly Beagle Airlines.”Aroo,Indy Beagle