THE FISHERMEN

Though not written by me, I wanted to share this little parable of life because it offers a beautiful perspective:

A tourist sitting on a beautiful remote beach praised the local fishermen for the quality of their fish he had eaten the night before and then asked them,
“How much time do you need to catch it?”

The fishermen answered him in one voice:
"Not long"

He asked them:
“Why don't you spend more time and fish more?”

The fishermen made it clear that their little catch would suffice, adequately meeting  their needs and the needs of their families!

He asked them:
“But what do you do in the rest of your time?”

They answered:
“We sleep late…We fish a little...We play with our children…We eat with our wives…And in the evening we visit our friends…We have fun, laugh and chant some songs.”

The tourist interrupted:
“You know, I have an MBA from Harvard University and I can help you get rich! Admittedly, you’ll have to start fishing for longer periods every day, then sell the extra fish for a bigger return and buy a bigger fishing boat.”

They asked him:
“Then what?”

He replied:
“With the big boat and the extra money you can buy a 2nd and 3rd boat and so on until you have an integrated fleet of fishing vessels. Instead of selling your catch to an intermediary, you will negotiate directly with the factories, and eventually,
you’ll open your own factory, and you will be able to leave this village and move to Chicago, Los Angeles or even New York! From there you will be able to start scaling up your giant projects.”

The fishermen asked the tourist:
“How much time will we need to achieve this?”

He replied:
“About twenty or maybe twenty-five years.”

They asked him:
“What next?”

He replied with a smile:
“When your business grows,
you will speculate in stocks and earn millions.”

They asked him in amazement:
“Millions? Oh really? And what will we do after that?”

He replied:
“Then you can retire and live quietly in a village on the coast and sleep late. You play with your children. and you eat with your wives and spend the nights enjoying with friends.”

The fishermen answered:
“With all due respect and appreciation, that's exactly what we're doing now, so, what is the logic for which we waste twenty-five years of misery?”