The Story of the Fisherman.

I have been frequenting a blog (http://aurajoon.blogspot.com) by a pretty amazing woman in Oklahoma. She wrote about an adventure that she and her husband went on wherein they heard the following story... thought I would share and see if you take it as much to heart as I do:

An American businessman was standing 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 yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of the fish.

"How long it took you to catch them" The American asked.

"Only a little while." The Mexican replied.

"Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish" The American then asked.

"I have enough to support m family's immediate needs." The Mexican said.

"But," The American then asked, "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 a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play my guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds you could buy a bigger boat. And with the proceeds from he bigger boat you could buy several boats,eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats."

"Instead of selling your catch to the middle man you would sell it directly to the consumers, eventually opening our own can factory. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then eventually to NYC where you would run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15-20 years."

"But what then, senor?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions, senor? Then what?"

The American said slowly, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evening were you would sip wine and play guitar with your amigos...."

What an incredible and humbling reminder.We are each so lucky to have this life... the time we are allotted- the people we love. To spend it looking for tomorrow rather than appreciating today would be an awful waste of what beauty already lies before us. And how often it is that what we are seeking has been right in front of us all along.