(Photo by vijo on Flickr)
In a quiet Mexican fishing village, an American who was on vacation saw a local fisherman unloading his catch. He decided to approach him.
The American asked the fisherman, “why are you finishing your day so early?”
The Mexican replied “Oh Senor, I have caught enough to feed my family and a little extra to sell for today. It is now time to go for lunch with my family and have a siesta. In the afternoon, I can play with my kids. In the evening, I will go to the cantina, drink a little tequila and play the guitar.”
The business professor was horrified at the fisherman’s lack of motivation to succeed. He answered, “If you stay out at sea until late afternoon, you will easily catch twice as much fish. You can sell the extra, save up the money and in six months, maybe nine, you will be able to buy a bigger and better boat, and hire some crew. Then you’ll be able to buy a second fishing boat and hire another crew.”
He continued, “In another year or two, you will have the capital to buy a second fishing boat and hire another crew. If you follow this business plan, in six or seven years, you will be the proud owner of a large fishing fleet.”
“Just imagine that! Then you can move your head office to Mexico city, or even to L.A. After only three or four years in LA, you float your company on the stockmarket giving yourself, as CEO, aqa generous salary package with substantial share options. In a few more years – listen to this! – you initiate a company share buy-back scheme, which will make you a multi-millionaire! Guaranteed!”
The American got very excited at the prospect himself. He said, “I definitely know these things. I’m a well known professor at the US Business School.”
The Mexican fisherman listened intently at what the animated American had to say. When the professor had finished, the Mexican asked him, “But, Senor Professor, what can a person do after getting millions of dollars?”
Now, the American professor hadn’t thought that far. He was taken aback by the question.
So he quickly figured out an answer “Amigo! With all that dough, you can retire. Yeah! Retire for life! You can buy a little villa with a picturesque fishing village like this one, and purchase a small boat for going fishing in the morning, You can have lunch with your wife every day, and a siesta in the afternoon, with nothing to worry you. In the afternoon, you can spend quality time with your kids, and after dinner in the evening, play guitar with your friends in the cantina, drinking tequila. Yeah, with all the money, my friend, you can retire and take it easy.”
Puzzled with the American’s suggestion, the Mexican fisherman replied, “but, Senor Professor, I do that already!”
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Ajahn Brahm told the above story in last Friday’s talk on “Dealing with Uncertainties in Life”. You can also read this story in Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?
Contentment or Cash? Your Thoughts Please?
I’m deliberately keeping my post shorter than usual, for today. I’m also down with a case of bad flu and am now throwing the door open for your inputs. So here are some questions for you.
In the story, the Mexican fisherman may be poor but he is contented. But what if he has a desire to afford a better life for his kids? Realistically, most of us so have dreams of a more abundant life. We would like to be able to afford beyond the basic necessities. We desire the flexibility of working as and when we want to, without struggle and worry and to have excess time to pursue our various interests. Is it possible to rewrite the story so that the Mexican fisherman (or you for that matter) can have it all – money, loving relationships, health, and joy – without any major sacrifices?
How would you strike a balance in your waking hours for today, whilst working towards your dreams? Stacey over at CreateaBalance is having a Life Balance Group Writing Project. I’d like to take the opportunity to submit this post as an entry, in examining what life balance means to us.
Share your thoughts, please.
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Easy question.
Easy answer. Today I went to the fitness center. When I got home, I shoveled dirt for a new flower bed. After that I took a short nap.
Sure, it’s Saturday, but it’s very similar to every other day this last week, except Thursday, where I didn’t do much of anything. Tomorrow, we’re leaving for a camping trip when the campgrounds will be nearly empty because most everyone else has to work or go to school.
The problem with the fisherman is what happens to his contentment when the fish stop biting? Where’s his safety net?
I’m contented with my life as a retiree, but if the fish stop biting, I’m still okay. I have skills and knowledge that will bring employment if I need it.
I’m contented with what I have…, for now.
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@Evita, I’m glad that you enjoyed the story in this post. I’m going over to your site in a minute.
@Mike, I’m trying to infer from what you’ve written. Are you saying that while the fisherman is contented for now, he will be better off if he also spends time building a marketable skill, just in case he needs to fall back on it?
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Ahhh Evelyn,
This is the eternal struggle isn’t it? Here on Guam I find the two worlds colliding. Traditional Guamanians live a simple life. Work a little, play a little and balance life and family. We Americans come here and work a lot, play very little and still manage to be stressed out all the while living on a tropical island.
I work extremely hard at living in the now. I don’t always succeed. I ask myself every moment if it’s worth it. This is why I take so many pictures… I never regret capturing the little moments that make up our life.
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I do think it is possible to have it all, but not without major sacrifices along the way. Some professions pay well eventually, but some take a lot of education or long hours.
I like the fisherman’s attitude. Contentment – at whatever stage you are at – is the key to happiness, isn’t it?
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Dr Carson, it’s great that you are living side-by-side to the traditional Guamanians! When you get stressed out, you can easily look over to your neighbour and remind yourself to slow down.
You said “I work extremely hard at living in the now. I don’t always succeed”. I’m wondering if you are trying too hard? There really should be no work involved just BEing. My guess is that you are already doing it unconsciously, judging by the many wonderful photos that you put up on your site. Indulging in this passion of yours has no doubt already put you in that state. It’s just a case of extending it to other areas of your life.
I’ve written this before but maybe it’s worth repeating here. When you are living in the Now, at least for a start, it simply means that you do not wish that you are somewhere else. You are totally in that moment. You commit 100% of your attention. Hence, if you are with your kids, you are with your kids. You are not wishing that you are blogging or doing something else. If you are in your creative space of writing and publishing on your blog, you do not beat yourself up with guilt that you are not spending time with your kids.
By BEing, my time is definitely worth it in each moment that I spend. There is no need to question it as much.
I definitely love the photos that you put up. You have a gift and I would encourage you to continue publishing them. I enjoy seeing the little snippets in moments that make up the window to your life.
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
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Pink Ink, I’d like to think that abundance is available to all of us. Not all of us may necessarily want to work 4 hours a day and earn a 8-figure salary. As you’ve pointed out, there are certain professions that require longer hours. Abundance to people who are passionate in these jobs may be about having more than just money alone. It may even be the joy in providing a service to the community! In such cases, there is hardly a sacrifice, since there is the joy in giving.
I’d like to propose it’s about moving into alignment with what we want to do. If we are aligned and loving what we do, we do not see the time that we spent in our work as “sacrifice”.
Yes, the fisherman appears happy to me too. Being contented in the Now is important. I hope to cultivate the same joy, even whilst I have bigger dreams of success, happiness and contribution to the world compared to him.
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
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so true.
so often we are already living the dream we seek.
I know I am.
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For me, this fisherman sounds like he has the ideal situation. However, it’s not clear whether he finds fishing to be a passion or simply a means to provide for his family. If I were to change the story at all, I would ensure that what he did to support his family while away from them was something he was passionate about. If he simply did it to provide, then there is something wrong (in my opinion). If he found contentment in what he did each day, then I feel like he has succeeded far more than any business person has, because he has found contentment in what he does. It’s harder than one might think to be satisfied with today and not desire for something better/newer tomorrow.
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I love this story. It really goes to the heart of how my husband and I have chosen to live. We live close to New York and many, many people around us have chosen to make the insane commute into the city each day to make the big bucks. We have chosen not to take that path and work here in New Jersey so we can be home as soon as possible to be together as a family.
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Evelyn,
I’m so pleased that somebody finally wrote a REAL post about peverty. Who are we (particularly those in the Western World) to define poverty?
As I wrote on Vered’s blog earlier this week, I signed up with a do-good “Corps” for 6 months after college. We went to a small town in South America, where flooding was a constant problem. Rather than teach the “natives” how to build proper dams, the group leaders were teaching them how to plant more for the “flood season.”
When this area flooded, these people did NOT have time to pick more food. They had learned, through years of experience, to head to higher ground, where much citrus and shelter was available.
Where did the “Corps” begin to dig-up so that the natives could plant more? Directly on top of their only escape route to the highlands! I lasted with the group for five weeks. In their efforts to “do well” they did not “do good” at all.
Rita
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@Mizfit, how delightful! I’m glad to read that you’ve realized that you are already in the dream that you seek!
@Oktober Five, you’ve made an interesting point that no one else has pointed out. Most of us just assumed that the fisherman has a passion in fishing. But you are right! It is important to make that distinction. Is fishing a passion for him or just a means to survive?
@Melissa, it’s nice to know that you and your husband have made a conscious choice in the kind of lifestyle that is best suited for your needs. New Jersey sounds like a wonderful place to be in!
@Rita, thanks for liking the post here. Thanks too also for sharing your experience with a volunteer “Corps” group. I can only express surprise and sadness that not enough thought goes into how best to help these people.
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Hi,
Just found your site from Jungle of Life or Create a Balance.
Anyway, I loved the fisherman story. I think finding happiness and joy is the way you THINK about your circumstances. We have what we need and yet…great post.
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My husband and I have always lived below our means. That means we didn’t fall into the materialism trap. It definitely works for us.
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I think the story is a little two-sided. I read in the comments the fishermen is in the Now. If the fishermen is truly happy, why should he bother. This includes not wanting that worldly success if he sees people with it. I’m not so sure if this is the case with most people that the fishermen is representing here. I recently saw a film about South Africa where the woman said “We all want success here.”
The question here is: is the fishermen just not aware of all the things the professor suggests or is he aware and chooses not to go that path. On which level is he, is he really in the Now or is he deeply unconsciouss?
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Hello,
I had heard this story many times before. I am quite familiar with both types of life, the happy-with-what-you-have-living-each-day output that Colombians have on life is what makes us the happiest people on earth (this has been written in too many places, so trust me on that statement.)
In the US, where I have lived for eight years now, people seem to always be rushing and competing to get what they want. Many of them don’t know what that is. Since money is the easiest answer, that is what they decide they will strive for.
The allegory of the Mexican fisherman, which needs not to be taken so literally, basically states that we must work to live, not live to work. The complete inverse is embedded in American culture…do you think it is close to changing any time soon?
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@Rachel, thanks for liking the story here and appreciating the message it contains.
@Jean, prudence is definitely a wise strategy to managing our finances.
@AwakeBlogger, interesting perspective that you’ve brought up about whether the fisherman is really in the Now or if he has actually made a conscious decision. As you know, there are no obvious answers to a story like this. It is meant to invoke thought and discussion.
@Andrea, what you’ve said does not apply to the American culture alone. I’m from Singapore, by the way. I should put that down in my profile (updating and inclusion of more bio long overdue).
The pursuit of materialism is apparently the case here. It is often discussed in our local papers. The majority are chasing dreams of cash, condo, country club memberships, car and credit cards (making up the 5Cs). Having the 6th C “children” is out of the equation or can be delayed, because it will hinder the acquisition of cash, condo and car.
I hope to think that as people become more spiritually aware, it is possible to change. And I do see more and more awakening in others to what abundance really means.
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It seems to me as the story is specifically designed to show the absurdity of persuing success and money. It may be designed to wake people up from doing it blindly. It feels like going a bit over the edge with the statement “… then you can finally retire and live your life.”
The basic question to the fishermen would be: Are you happy? And do you feel free?
If the anser is a clear “yes”, then the answer to my question 3 commets above is also clear.
If the answer is a clear “no”, then it seems to me that there is potential development for the fishermen. Certainly not in the overemphasized way of the professor with the aim to finally retire, but to grow and release his potential and be free and happy!?
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Hi, it’s my first time visiting your blog.
I enjoyed reading them!
I look forward to reading the future posting!
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game, set and match to the mexican fisherman.
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The tale is clearly meant to make us reflect on the richness of the fisherman’s life without money. However he is short of one important thing – choice.
The richman has a choice about fishing or not. The fisherman does it because he has to. He has no choice. It is essential to everyone to have options in their life. One of the principal causes of unhappiness is perceived lack of options.
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