A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
"Not very long," answered the Mexican.
"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.
The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs . . .I have a full life."
The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing
plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise."
"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.
"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.
"And after that?"
"Afterwards? That's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?"
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."
Author unknown
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My thoughts:
The story speaks to me, not on a socio-economic level, but at a spiritual one. For me, the story suggests to live your purpose, what ever that may be, by being true to yourself. The key word being "live". It says, try not to get caught up in someone else's dream, (society's role for you) be true to yourself. To me, happiness isn't found in money or material things, it is a state of mind from within projected outwards. Life is to be lived in the moment, not the future, and not the past which now brings up the idea of mid point.
To me, mid point is a fairly essential point that resides between two opposite points. Take for instance happiness and sadness in the broadest terms. By finding the balance point (mid point), you find your center (in that instance). By utilizing mid point in your life you can find your peace of mind. You can find this point within yourself between all potential variables utilizing your emotions as a feedback mechanism. You cannot find it "out there." It is an inner working. A spiritual endeavor.
Have you ever come across a pleasant, and content "poor" person? On the same token have you come across a miserable wealthy person? The difference is in, I believe, their balancing of this mid point. One is swinging to extremes while the other, paradoxically in the case of the hilighted story, has found their mid point, their peace of mind, the place where true enjoyment and life purpose is realized. This balance also extends to the collective global community (intrinsic balance of nature).
A look at the toxic situation we have created on our planet shows us that we are collectively way off our mid point of balance. We can change that with awareness of our inexerable connectedness to the whole, one person at a time.
I have also met wealthy people who are happy and miserable poor people as well. For me, it's the state of mind (coreect and balanced thoought forms) that is most important. We create our reality by choice or by default. I choose not to live a life that someone else pins on me. You too can wake up out of the "collective" default dream and begin to live *YOUR* dream.
