“Trade your busy life for a full one.” — Courtney Carver
People love a good story. Here’s one that I’ve been enjoying recently:
An 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 yellowfin tuna. 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 he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate 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 siestas with my wife, Maria, and 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 have an MBA from Harvard, and can help you,” he said. “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, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middle-man, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening up your own cannery. You could control the product, processing, and distribution,” he said. “Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually to New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “Oh, 15 to 20 years or so.”
“But what then?” asked the Mexican.
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time was 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 could retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.”
What did you pick up from the story? Laughter? Irony? Wisdom? A realization? Or maybe, all of the above.
Life doesn’t have to be busy, but we’ve made it that way. We give up our time and sanity to do as much as possible for pride, significance, and feeling important.
But is that what we really get out of it all? Better yet, what is our end goal?
If we are being busy just to be busy, then there is no point in being busy at all.
Instead of being busy in order to live a life of luxury and happiness, what if we could infuse that into our life now? Try slowing down like the fisherman in the story; do little things that make you remember why happiness is important.
So drop the worries, and let go a little. Instead of living a busy life, live a full one. A life full of happiness, love, value, and joy. When you fill your life with good ingredients for a happy life, you create your own personal recipe for happiness.
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