WORDS TO LIVE BY
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.Ê Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in front of my enemies: thou anointest my head with oil: my cup runneth over. Surely, good and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
To be born in times of peace in a district with hills and lakes when the magistrate is just and upright, and to live in a family of comfortable means, marrying an understanding wife and have intelligent sons ö That is what I call a perfect life.
Confucian scholars first lesson to children:
If people are to have a clear moral harmony in the world they must first order their national life; those who desire to order their national life must first regulate their home life; those who desire to order their homelife must first regulate their personal life; those who desire to order their personal life would first put their hearts right; those that would put their hearts right must first make their wills sincere; those that would make their wills sincere must first arrive at understanding; understanding comes from an exploration of the knowledge of things.When the knowledge of things is gained, then understanding is reached; when understanding is reached, will is sincere; when will is sincere, then heart is right; when heart is right, oneâs personal life is cultivated; when oneâs personal life is right, home life is regulated; when home life is regulated, national life is orderly; then the world is at peace.
How can we organize our life that we can work peacefully, endure nobly, and live happily?
The happiest man is still the man of the middle class who has earned a slight means of economic independence, who has done a little, but just a little, for mankind, and who is slightly distinguished in his community, but not too. It is only in this milieu of well-known obscurity and financial competence with a pinch, when life is fairly carefree and yet not altogether carefree, that the human spirit is happiest and succeeds best.
A Prayer
Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this right now. I am asking You to minister to their spirit
at this very moment.
Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy.
Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence in Your ability to work through them.
Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, patience, and strength as
they learn submission to Your leading.
Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask You to renew them by revealing Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with You.
Where there is fear, reveal Your love, and release to them Your courage. Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal it, and break its holdover my friend's life.
Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders, and friends to support, and encourage them.
Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them, and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it.
I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name.
PRAYER:
May today there be peace within you. May you trust
God that you are exactly where you are meant to be---
and may you find serenity by accepting that Person,
Place, Thing, or Situation as being exactly the way
it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing,
absolutely nothing happens in God'sworld by mistake.
May you find happiness by accepting life completely
on life's terms. May you concentrate not so much on
what needs to be changed in the world as on what
needs to be changed in you and in your attitudes.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are
born of faith.May you use those gifts that you have received, and
pass on the love that has been given to you. May you
be content knowing that you are a child of God.
Let His presence settle into your bones, and allow your
soul the freedom to sing, dance, and to bask in the sun.
It is there for each and every one of you.
BahaiSaying:
Anbody can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health, success, pleasure and joy; but if one will be happy and contented in the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, it is the proof of nobility
The Practice of Compassion
From His Holiness The Dalai Lama: via someone who recently visited his home in India:
This is from someone who recently returned from India. Her group met
with the Dalai Lama for several days. The meetings focused on dialoguing what
they believed were the five most important questions to be considered moving
into the new millennium.
The group were asked to come up withfive questions before meeting with the
Dalai Lama. They were asked:
*How do we address the widening gap between rich and poor?
*How do we protect the earth?
*How do we educate our children?
*How do we help Tibet and other oppressed countries/peoples?
*How do we bring spirituality - deep caring for each other -through all disciplines?Ê
The Dalai Lama said all the questions fall under the last one. If we
have true compassion, our children will be educated, we will care for
the earth, and for those who "have not". He asked the group: Do you
think loving on the planet is increasing or staying the same?
His own response was,"My experience leads me to believe that love IS
increasing."
He shared a practice with the group that will increase loving and
compassion in the world, and asked everyone attending to go home and
share it with as many people as possible.
The Practice:
1.Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same
thing (to be happy and loved) and we are all connected.
2.Spend 5 minutes cherishing yourself and others. Let go of
judgments. Breathe in cherishing yourself, and breathe out cherishing
others. If the faces of people you arehaving difficulty with appear,
cherish them as well.
3.During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet - we
are all the same, and I cherish myself and you [do it with the grocery
store clerk, the client, your family, coworkers, etc.].Stay in the practice, no matter what happens.
Subject: Age of Reason Revisited
The following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA. "We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal, bed-wetters.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights.
ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.
ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone ö not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion,
etc., but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.
ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.
ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but they are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.
ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.
ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people.If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.
ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.
ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.
ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job. All of us sure want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.
ARTICLE X: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness - which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights."
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them --work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls---family, health, friends and spirit--are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.
You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How?Ê
Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.Ê
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.Ê
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as they were your life, for without them, life is meaningless.Ê
Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time you live ALL the days of your life.Ê
Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.Ê
Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together.
Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.Ê
Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly, and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.Ê
Don't run though life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.Ê
Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.
Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.Ê
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.Ê
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a gift · that's why we call it ãThe Present."
ARE YOU 'THE CRACKED POT' ??
A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck.One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house.Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream."I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.""Why?" asked the bearer."What are you ashamed of?""I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side?That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it.I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table.Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."Each of us has our own unique flaws.We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table.In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste.So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws.Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway. Go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we find His strength, and that "In Him every one of God's promises is a Yes."
Dance Like No One's Watching:
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another.Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are.After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now.If not now, when?Your life will always be filled with challenges.It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza.He said, "For a long time, it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life.But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin.At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness.Happiness is the way.So, treasure every moment that you have.
And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time ... and remember that time waits for no one ... So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until
spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.Happiness is a journey, not a destination.Thought for the day:Work like you don't need money,Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching.
What if you received an email from God?Would it sound something like this?
Hi,
As you got up this morning, I watched you and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday . I noticed you were too busy trying to find the right outfit to put on and wear to work.I waited
again.When you ran around the house getting ready I knew there would be a few minutes for you to stop and say hello, but you were too busy...At one point you had to wait fifteen minutes with nothing to do except sit in a chair. ThenI saw you spring to your feet. I thought you wanted to talk to me but you ran to the phone and called a friend to get the latest gossip. I watched as you went to work and I waited patiently all day long.... With all your activities I guess you were too busy to say anything to me. I noticed that before lunch you looked around, maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me, that is why you didn't bow your head. You glanced three or four tables over and you noticed some of your friends talking to me briefly
before they ate, but you didn't. That's okay. There is still more time left, and I have hope that you
will talk to me yet you went home and it seems as if you had lots of things to do.After a few of them were done you turned on the TV, I don't know if you like TV or not, just about anything goes there
& you spent a lot of time each day in front of it, not thinking about anything - just enjoying the show.I waited patiently again as you watched the TV and ate your meal but again you didn't talk to me.
Bedtime I guess you felt too tired. After you said goodnight to your family you plopped into bed and fell asleep in no time. That's okay because you may not realize that I am always there for you. I've got patience more than you will ever know. I even want to teach you how to be patient with others as well.
I love you so much that I wait everyday for a nod, prayer or thought or a thankful part of your heart.
It is hard to have a one-sided conversation. Well you are getting up again and once again I will wait with nothing but love for you hoping that today you will give me some time. Have a nice day!
Your friend,
GOD
IF HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVERby Erma Bombeck
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the"GOOD"living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in thefireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.Ê
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.Ê
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried aboutgrass stains.Ê
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.Ê
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.Ê
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.Ê
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment realizing that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in lifeto assistGod in a miracle.Ê
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love yous" ... more "I'm sorrys" .....but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute.....look atitand really see it ... live it ... and never give it back.
IMPERTURBABILITY
I think Charles Allen said it first. "When faced with problems which threaten to steal your peace of mind, learn the meaning of the word 'imperturbability.'" I heard of two artists who were asked to illustrate peace. Each
was assigned the task of depicting a peaceful scene on canvas.The first artist drew a beautiful picture of a countryside on a warm, spring day. A soft sun illumines green grass. A picturesque farm house and grazing cattle are bathed in its warmth. A farmer walks contentedly behind strong plow horses making his field ready for spring planting. The picture is one of beauty and quiet tranquility.The other artist took a different approach. He drew a majestic, rugged cliff. Gnarled trees, twisted by years of violent winds, jut from the craggy mountainside. Dark clouds hang low and fierce while jagged streaks of lightening slash across an angry sky. The picture is one of violence, chaos and rage.But as one looks closely, something else becomes visible. There in one of the crevices of the rocky mountain, tucked back just out of reach of the wind and rain -- a nest with two small birds.
Apparently unconcerned about the impending storm, they appear calm, cozy and peaceful as they patiently wait for the turbulence to pass.And isn't that the way it so often is? We may want to be surrounded by peace, but storms rage. Problems and pressures without threaten to steal peace of mind within. The answer is imperturbability: inner peace which doesn't leave when circumstances change. It's a peace which is greater than the problems of life, built on assurance that the tempest will finally pass, we will survive the storm, we may grow stronger because of it and, in the meantime, we will not endure it alone. Imperturbability -- it's the result of a peace which passes understanding. For serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.
I dreamed I had an interview with God Come in, God said. So, you would like to interview Me?
If you have the time, I said. God smiled and said: My time is eternity and is enough to do everything;
what questions do you have in mind to ask me?
What surprises you most about mankind?
God answered:
That they get bored of being children,are in a rush to grow up,and then long to be children again.Ê
That they lose their health to make moneyand then lose their money to restore their health.
That by thinking anxiously about the future,they forget the present, such that they live
neither for the present nor the future.Ê
That they live as if they will never die,and they die as if they had never lived...
God's hands took mine and we were silent for while and thenI asked...
As a parent, what are some of life's lessons you want yourchildren to learn?
God replied with a smile:
To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved.
To learn that it takes years to build trust,and a few seconds to destroy it.
To learn that what is most valuableis not what they have in their lives,but who they have in their lives. To learn that it is not goodto compare themselves to others. All will be judged individually on their own
merits, not as a group on a comparison basis!
To learn that a rich person isnot the one who has the most,but is one who needs the least.
To learn that it only takes a few secondsto open profound wounds in persons we love,and that it takes many years to heal them.
To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.
To learn that there are personsthat love them dearly, but simplydo not know how to express or
show their feelings.
To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.
To learn that two people can look at the same thingand see it totally different.
To learn that a true friend is someone whoknows everything about them...and loves them anyway.
To learn that it is not always enoughthat they be forgiven by others,but that they have to forgive themselves.
I sat there for awhile enjoying the moment. I thanked Him for his time and for all that He has done for me and my family, and He replied, Anytime. I'm here 24 hours a day. All you have to do is ask for me, and I'll Answer.
Anna Quindlenâs Villanova Commencement Address 1999
It's a great honor for me to be the third member of my family to receive an honorary doctorate from this great university. It's an honor to follow my great-Uncle Jim, who was a gifted physician, and my Uncle Jack, who is a remarkable businessman. Both of them could have told you something important about their professions, about medicine or commerce. I have no specialized field of interest or expertise, which puts me at a disadvantage, talking toyou today.
I'm a novelist.My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first. Don't ever forget what a friend once wrote Senator Paul Tsongas when the senator decided not to run for reelection because he'd been diagnosed with cancer: "No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time in the office." Don't ever forget the words my father sent me on a postcard last year: "If you win the rat race, you're still a rat ".Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down in the driveway of the Dakota: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
You walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life.Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.
People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is a cold comfort on a winter night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've gotten back the test results and they're not so good.
Here is my resume:
I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh.I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cutout. But I call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I would be rotten, or at best mediocre at my job, if those other things were not true.
You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today:get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red tailed hawk circles over the water gap or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up acheerio with her thumb and first finger.Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work.
Each time you look at your diploma, remember that you are still a student, still learning how to best treasure your connection to others. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Kiss your Mom. Hug your Dad. Get a life in which you are generous. Look around at the azaleas in the suburban neighborhood where you grew up; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black, black sky on a cold night. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted.
Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity.Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough. It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to
take for granted the color of the azaleas the sheen of the limestone on Fifth Avenue, the color of our kids eyes,the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of live.
I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my druthers, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and
That today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and to try to give some of it back because I believed in it completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived. Well, you can learn all those things, out there, if you get a real life, a full life, a professional life, yes, but another life, too, a life of love and laughs and a connection to other human beings.
Just keep your eyes and ears open. Here you could learn in the classroom. There the classroom is everywhere. The exam comes at the very end. No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island maybe 15 years ago. It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless survive in the winter months. He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, dangling our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule, panhandling the boulevard when the summer crowds were gone, sleeping in a church when the temperature went belowfreezing, hiding from the police amidst the Tilt a Whirl and the Cyclone and some of the other seasonal rides. But he told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way we were sitting now even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them. And I asked him why. Why didn't he go to one of the shelters? Why didn't he check himself into the hospital for detox? And he just stared out at the ocean and said, "Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view." And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he
said. I try to look at the view.And that's the last thing I have to tell you today, words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view.
You'll never be disappointed.
The 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
yellow fin 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 you stay out longer and
catch more fish?"
The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to
support my family's 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 siesta with my wife, Maria,
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 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 the
processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would
control the product, processing and distribution. You
would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and
move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New
York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all
take?"
To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then?" asked the Mexican.
The American 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?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small
coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a
little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife,
stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip
wine and play your guitar with your amigos!"