Some of you might have heard or read it before, but even if it's not new, the moral is still worth its weight in gold (and that's alot on today's market!)
Read on:
A small boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
"Not very long” answered the Mexican.
"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.
The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."
The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."
“And after that?" asked the Mexican.
“With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”
“How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.
"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years”, replied the American.
"And after that?" asked the Mexican.
"Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?” said the Mexican.
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."
And the moral is.......
Know where you're going in life... you may already be there.
13 comments:
I needed to hear this. I've been struggling for awhile with what I want to do with my life and what I want to accomplish with it. Maybe I'm already there.
I'm glad you found comfort in it... we are our own source of happiness, in the end.
(hugs)
Yup, contentment is the best thing there is.
That's my trouble precisely: wondering "why should I bother?" when I already have everything I need now. Who needs all the rest if it's just a fucking hassle, right?
The story is wonderful. To an extent. You know then feeling when you are sure that what you are about to do is completely wrong but you can`t help yourself? :) Well...
you could read it as an incentive to set more demanding goals for oneself. Some people are driven to be successful, but misdirect that drive and focus on the end result, in this case retirement. I prefer to focus on how I live now. I enjoy success in my career and the foscal rewards it brings allow me to pursue the things I enjoy - adrenaline, technodoll, endorphins etc. Just saying, there's more to life than relaxation.
@vegas
"Just saying, there's more to life than relaxation." - AMEN to that!
It's not only about relaxing though. It's about doing what you love and appreciating what you have.
Yes, yes and yes! Amen to all of that :-)
Prin - I agree. I just think there are aspects to human nature that shouldn't be undervalued - I'm talking about self-actualisation here.
I dunno - I'm constantly driven by the need for self-improvement and achievement. I need to be happy and content today, and the things that do that for me aren't going to be the same triggers for everyone else.
I'd go out of my mind with the 'ideal' world of this tale...
But that is just the moral though. One man's ideal, achieved through a life of hard work, may be another man's current life where they find satisfation in it all this time.
Or rather: try to do what you need and love and fulfills you all through your life, and not have that only as a goal for your retirement and not enjoy getting there. Yeah.
but one man's work to feed his family and survive isn't the same as one man retiring comfortably with a secure future :)
Plus, you have to remember that men invariably keel over and die as soon as they retire to 'enjoy' life :) So I shall be busy doing stuff for as lon as I'm able
So you agree that you're the mexican... cool! I like it :-)
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