Foreword from Irene's Inker Book 'From Rags to Riches". http://ireneinker.com <br /> <br />I am often asked how I retain such a sense of humor, how I always smile and make jokes, how I can “jazz up” any difficult situation, where I get so much energy, and how I can laugh about bad things that happen to me and make fun of myself. <br />Here is the answer to all of you who asked me these questions many times. <br />•• <br />This is the story my father told me about thirty years ago, when I still was a “Daddy’s Little Princess”: <br />When Alexander the Great took over one village, he sent his solders to collect the loot. <br />They came back with some loot, so he sent them the next day for more. <br />Soldiers came back empty handed, saying that villagers were crying and saying they did not have any more valuables. <br />Alexander replied: “If they cry, they have something to lose. Go push them and bring back more.” And so soldiers went back and returned with more loot. <br />And on the third day, Alexander sent them again. <br /> <br />They came back astonished and reported that something was wrong with all villagers, because when soldiers beat them and asked for more, they just laughed, and laughed, and laughed ... <br />Then Alexander told his soldiers: That is enough, if they laugh, they have lost it all, and they have nothing more left ... <br />This was the message my father was trying to send me, and much later I got it: <br />•• <br />“When you have lost it all, laugh. Do not be afraid anymore. Once you have lost it all, there is nothing more to be afraid of.”
