There was a blind boy who lived in a village in India. His name was Bangdu, and he had a box of marbles which he truly loved. Each day, he would take out all his marbles (12 in all) and play with them for an hour or more. He had never seen the marbles in the physical world since he was blind. But yet these 12 marbles were like diamonds for him. He carried this box of marbles with him wherever he went - to school, to the garden by the lake, and even held it in his hands when he was peeing. One day, someone stole his box of marbles, while he was sleeping under the shade of the huge Banyan tree in the village. When he woke up; he discovered that his marbles were stolen. He started crying, yelling, screaming, and going completely crazy that afternoon. He went around his entire little village asking everyone and anyone if they had seen (or robbed) his box of 12 marbles. He also spent the next couple of hours searching frantically for the marbles himself even though he couldn't see. He used his hands to feel all the places in the village - near the tree, near his house, and near his school even. But he did not find his marbles. However, he did find a small box that was full of some stones. It was a box of diamonds that he had found while he was digging with his hands near the Banyan tree. He did not know how precious those stones were but he knew that they could be of some value. So, he took the box of stones to the village grocery store, and gave it to the grocer. He asked the Grocer if the box (and her contents) was worth anything. The Grocer told Bangdu that the box and her contents were extremely precious and could fetch the boy a lot of money. Bangdu was extremely happy to hear this. He told the Grocer to give him a box of Marbles in exchange for the box of Diamonds. ----END OF MY STORY------ Now, I do not know the intellectual level of the members that frequent Digital Point. But, my story above and my messages below are clear and simple. If you have been affected by the Penguins and the Pandas that the BIG G threw your way then this post directly concerns you. If not, then I am extremely sorry for having wasted 4 minutes and 22 seconds of your time thus far. Those who have been harmed by the gentle Panda and the cute Penguin....... - Take a break and do something completely different. Visit a new country, explore your neighborhood some more, spend time fishing at the lake, etc. - Stop visiting Google.com for a few weeks. Stop wasting your time typing in all those keywords for which you were ranking high (and now ranking low). You are the reason that Google is such a menace online. - Spend more time on relaxing your mind and body, do yoga, meditate more, do anything and everything that gives you some more time away from the PC Screen. - Don't discuss Penguins, Pandas, Dolphins or Orcas anymore. Yes, the last two will probably happen next year during April or June. - Stop punishing yourself for working so hard on building backlinks to your websites. It is not your fault anymore. - Read up on "Time Management 18" and other such systems to help you live a truly meaningful and purposeful life. There is more to life than blogs, and websites. - Do not join petitions or pages started that ask you to join them in cursing Google. There is simply no point to all that. - If you must continue working online right now then focus your efforts in a new direction. Write articles like Wikipedia style. Here are two examples which come to mind, killerwhale dot in and catalinaisland dot in. - Find new ways of making money online and driving traffic to your websites. It might be difficult to come up with but when you do it will give you something new to do. - Spend time on a variety of forums and discussion boards learning something new each time you visit! - Don't spend your online time on social networking sites. They are as evil as the Giant G. - Read this post another time, and refrain from criticizing the poster. Since the poster is a certified Psychotherapist and Counselor, who is well experienced and trained to submit such a post. - Don't just work to make money. Work because you love what you are doing. I have written this post to enlighten a few souls who lie here on this forum, and other places online, waiting in ardent hope, that things will be the same again. Let go off your 'lost' box of marbles, and instead find the hidden box of Diamonds out there, and gift yourself a fresh lease of life. Kindly Note - Your comments are welcome but there is nothing like a little 'THANK YOU' that can brighten up my day right now. Also, you will be doing the right thing by spreading my story and messages along to anyone you know that has been affected by the Penguins and the Pandas. Isn't it funny how innocent creatures are used to highlight such a dark thing!