One
day a business man was on holiday in Brazil sitting on the beach. As he sat, he saw a fisherman rowing a small boat towards the
shore having caught a few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The
fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go
out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In
the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my
buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance
throughout the night.”
The
businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman. “I could help you to become a more successful
person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch
as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could
buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to
afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production
plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have
moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to
manage your other branches.”
The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The
businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in
your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float
your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The
businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to
a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a
few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap
with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a
drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman looked puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”
Hi Kate,
ReplyDeleteAn inspiring story that provokes a strong reaction in many - I like the sense of completeness and of being enough that it offers - although others I talk to about it say it is a sign of laziness and complacency.
I'm saying it is about recognizing we are enough, and that what we think is so far out of reach is right there in front of us if only we know how to look.
thanks
Bren
Hi Bren,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reflections.
I have been enjoying a summer as a human being rather than a human doing, with my coach I have been looking at balanced living and my beliefs around work = suffering = a living.
I believe if a person is aligned to THEIR truth, in flow and happy with what they are experiencing in life, whether it is having one fishing boat or a fleet, then great.
Everyone is unique with their own model of the world, the centre perspective of their universe, not one person has had the same experiences as another, so much contrast it's no wonder there are so many conflicting opinions with all this amazing and life giving contrast.
Best Wishes
Kate