This Friday #ChineseNewYear will greet the #YearoftheOx.
This really feels like the year of the Accountants and Bookkeepers.
The Ox is described as hardworking and honest, intelligent and reliable and usually working in the background, never demanding praise.
It goes on to say that these traits often hide the Oxen's talents, as they diligently plough through the difficulties as they arise.
It really does describe the accountant's lot.
The Ox is the second sign of the Chinese Zodiac, only because the crafty Rat sealed his first place by deception.
The Jade Emperor decreed that the order of the animals within the Chinese Zodiac would be determined by their order of arrival at his party.
Rat persuaded the Ox to give him a ride in exchange for the rat singing to him to make the journey more pleasant, but then Rat slid off at the final moment to arrive at the Jade Emperor's party first.
In the same way, Accountants can offer their strength and expertise to monitor and manage the financial and tax risks that threaten an Entrepreneurs dreams, supporting him through those troubling times, but at the end of the day we will always be in the background helping those dreams come true.
Perhaps comparing entrepreneurs to rats is not the best marketing analogy in Western society, but Ratty did achieve his goal, and I kind of like rats. We have some pretty amazing rats in the garden and the Chinese also hold them in high regard as intelligent and adaptable.
Well Rat is welcome to 2020 and the pestilence it brought, but Rat's adaptability was key to survival.
Now we turn to the strength, stability and stubbornness of the Ox to drive us forward and carry our aspirations safely to world where we co-habit more effectively with Covid19 as the vaccine programmes are rolled out.
I wish each and every one of you a happy Chinese New Year for Friday 12th February!
