The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna (expensive one). The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, "Only a little while." The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs." The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life." The American scoffed, " I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middle man you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise." The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years." "But what then?" asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions." "Millions?...Then what?" The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
The Mexican government would seize your operation before it got too large and nationalize it then blame its failure on the U.S. then we (U.S.) would legislate a new trade agreement whereby all tuna from Mexican nationalized holdings have duty free entry into the U.S. thus eliminating NW tuna fishing jobs thus initiating a new round of tax rebates and cuts to benefit the rich tuna fish owners so they can buy tuna from China who will funnel the excess monies to N.Korea who will develope more WMD and force us to spend more protecting the S.Koreans who hate us ... Cause and Effect - Action and Reaction-- thats the way that the world goes round.
I was browsing around the site and came across this. I love this story! I could not stop laughing when I read it. lol
This is very similar to a point that was made one day in one of the weekly discourses in my congregation. The moral of the story? Matthew 6:22; Luke 16:14. Then, win at life :smile:
It's always give the source of a story if it is not your own. This fine one is generally attributed to German Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll, who died in 1985.
There's one more exchange needed to complete the story. "Then, one day, while out fishing, the Mexican man is injured in an accident..." "Then, one day, the fisherman's wife becomes ill..." "Then, one day, the fisherman discovers that he is too old to..." "Then, one day the fisherman's boat is ruined in a storm. . ." It's nice to have romantic notions of lifestyle choices but then real life has a way of setting in and makes some of these choices more difficult. We don't all need to be CEO's of huge corporations (thankfully) but most people find a comfortable spot somewhere between 1) working only when you feel like it and 2) being a workaholic. When I was a kid I read this story written by Aesop: The Ant and the Grasshopper - a fable by Aesop
I was enjoying this thread until Kizmet came along and made me want to suck-start a Glock with the joy-killing rationalizations.
OK then, if that's what you want . . . "And then one day the Mexican fisherman rescued a mermaid that had been caught in a fishing net. Out of gratitude the mermaid led the fisherman to a treasure chest of gold coins and gave him a magic sea shell that would whisper the names of all the NYSE winners every day. And so he lived happily ever after." Now go to sleep and have pleasant dreams.:raincloud:
What a terrible way to ruin a perfectly good story with a bunch of nasty old facts! Seriously though, you are right about finding the balance between work and rest. It is possible to attain moderate success and still take time for family, friends, love and life.
