An investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long he took to catch them.
The fisherman replied, “Only a little while.”
The banker then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”
The fisherman said, “With this, I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
The banker then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, go for walks with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. As you can see, I have a full and busy life.”
The banker 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 middleman you would sell directly to a processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and the distribution. You would need to leave this small fishing village and move to the capital city. After that, who knows, maybe you could take on the world!”
The fisherman asked, “But how long will this all take?”
To which the banker replied, “I would say about 15 to 20 years.”
”But what then?” asked the fisherman.
The banker 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?” asked the fisherman.
The banker said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, go for romantic walks with your wife, and in the evenings you could sip wine, play guitar and sing songs with your friends!”
To which the fisherman amused, “Now isn’t that strange? Isn’t that what I’m doing now?”
Moral of the story:
Don’t take life too seriously. Always find time to laugh. Laughter not only adds years to your life, but also adds more life to your years.
