Skip to main content

What Really Matters in Life?

Mexican Fisherman Meets Harvard MBA 


A vacationing American businessman standing on the pier of a quaint coastal fishing village in southern Mexico watched as a small boat with just one young Mexican fisherman pulled into the dock. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. Enjoying the warmth of the early afternoon sun, the American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

"How long did it take you to catch them?" the American casually asked.

"Oh, a few hours," the Mexican fisherman replied.

"Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" the American businessman then asked.

The Mexican warmly replied, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The businessman then became serious, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

Responding with a smile, the Mexican fisherman answered, "I sleep late, play with my children, watch ballgames, and take siesta with my wife. Sometimes in the evenings I take a stroll into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, sing a few songs..."

The American businessman impatiently interrupted, "Look, I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you to be more profitable. You can start by fishing several hours longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra money, you can buy a bigger boat. With the additional income that larger boat will bring, before long you can buy a second boat, then a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of fishing boats."

Proud of his own sharp thinking, he excitedly elaborated a grand scheme which could bring even bigger profits, "Then, instead of selling your catch to a middleman you'll be able to sell your fish directly to the processor, or even open your own cannery. Eventually, you could control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this tiny coastal village and move to Mexico City, or possibly even Los Angeles or New York City, where you could even further expand your enterprise."

Having never thought of such things, the Mexican fisherman asked, "But how long will all this take?"

After a rapid mental calculation, the Harvard MBA pronounced, "Probably about 15-20 years, maybe less if you work really hard."

"And then what, señor?" asked the fisherman.

"Why, that's the best part!" answered the businessman with a laugh. "When the time is right, you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions? Really? What would I do with it all?" asked the young fisherman in disbelief.

The businessman boasted, "Then you could happily retire with all the money you've made. You could move to a quaint coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, play with your grandchildren, watch ballgames, and take siesta with your wife. You could stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play the guitar and sing with your friends all you want."


Funny how we spend so much time thinking about how we can achieve more in order to get to where we already want to be...

Comments

What people are reading...

Lions Guard Abducted Ethiopian Girl Until Rescuers Arrive

With the news of the Mothers Day shooting incident in New Orleans today, I embarked on a journey to find any news about something that is still good out there. I guess something inside me still wanted to believe that there is still something good left in humanity.  Equipped with the key words "good news around the globe", I came across a very good and inspiring news, but not of a heroic act by a human but rather that of a feline.  Below is the link the story... Good News Story: Lions guard abducted Ethiopian girl until rescuers arrive Reading this news makes me wonder what is so bad in being called an "Animal"?  The only bad thing I could think of is the injustice we do to animals when liken bad humans to animals.  Sad to say but I think despite the evolution and the technological advancements that we humans have achieved, we have come to a point where it is more appropriate branding a misbehaving pet as "Human" that a misbehaving human an "...

Freedom of Speech

"DE LIMA: FREEDOM OF SPEECH NOT LICENSE TO RUIN CREDIBILITY" (sic).  I could not agree more!  I would just like to understand though whether this statement is really unadulterated or is it just another attempt at bending “morality” where it is convenient. I seem to remember not long ago the same senator effectively smearing the credibility of some of her colleagues in the government and its institutions, all the while exercising her constitutional right to “Freedom of Speech.”  I have heard claims coming from this Senator about how sure she is that President Duterte is behind DDS and EJK.  In fact, she is so sure that she’s even gone to great lengths of humoring international media with interviews and clamoring for international intervention on our domestic affairs, including imposing sanctions on our nation, all because of the ongoing “government-inspired” EJK.  I have also heard her say, and she is definitely sure about it too, about DOJ fabricating lies...

Funny Pinoy Jokes

Here is a collection of funny Pinoy Jokes all over the net.  This post will be updated as regularly as possible, with the latest jokes showing at the top. Learn Useful French Words in Minutes 1. TURN - le coup 2. LITER - le true 3. BEHIND - le coud 4. ALMS - le mousse 5. FIVE - le ma 6 . FLY - le pad 7. DEAD SKIN - le bag 8. CONFUSED - le tou 9. NO LONGER A VIRGIN - les pag 10. UNFAITHFUL HUSBAND - cou ma le wah 11. CITY - ce vou 12. DRUGS - sha vou 13. GOODBYE - va vou 14. MUSICAL BAND - com vou 15. BALD - cal vou 16. CAUGHT IN THE ACT - na vou coup, na coup!! 17. FEATHERS - valahe vou 18. UNCLEAR - ma la vou 19. SINK - lah va vou 20. COCONUT - vou coup 21. OPEN WIDE - vou camou 22. CIRCUMCISE - vou ratattoule 23. ALWAYS UP - va yagriah 24. YOU'RE HOT - le voug mou 25. WASHROOM - coup vaetta 26. JAIL - coup lou ngan 27. SUPER BOOBS - la que zouosu 28. BOOGER - coup la ngout 29. BIG SCAR - va coup cangh 30. BIG MO...

Doomsday

Over the past years, people seem to have been obsessed with doomsday and the fashion on how it will unfold.  The past 5 failed doomsday predictions alone happened in 2012.  There was the Ronald Weinland's claim of the return of Jesus Christ to the world in 27 May, 2012.  There is the Jose Luis de Jesus prediction of an economic meltdown that would end the world in 30 June, 2012.  Then the famous December 21, 2012 prediction of a Mayan apocalypse at the start of the 13th b'ak'tun.  A couple of says after that is a prediction by Warren Jeffs, a leader of a prominent church convicted of two counts of felony for child sexual assault, that the end of the world would come on 23 December, 2012.  When this date passed, he again predicted the end to come on the 31st of the same month, which by the way also failed. Some have made a lot of predictions and many have failed.  Over the course of human history, there have been at least 180 recorded doomsday predic...

Are you too strong for your own good?

I came across a gem of an article on Gulf News Aquarius magazine ( click here to read the article ) and decided to share it here and inject a few of my own thoughts on the subject. I have always been fascinated by strong women, those who have changed the course of history and made the world that is today. There are Hatshepsut, Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, Anne Frank, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Mother Theresa to name a few. And of course, to each and every one of us, who would forget the strongest woman of all that we know – our mothers.

The Bliss in Surrender

Surrender is a negative word.  It does not exist in any fighter’s book.  It is an order, usually almost always the last one, every general wishes to not ever give.  In surrender we relinquish all our power, accept we no longer are in control, and we resign to our fate.  To surrender is to give up, to concede, to lose.  We live in a world where giving up, losing control or simply just losing are frowned upon. To surrender is to show weakness. So we “man” up.  We set out to conquer life. We struggle. We survive. Battle-hardened, we march on.  No retreat, no surrender.

Broken Gadgets and Me

Have you ever had a connection with something that seemed like it was given to you by default? It is like a birthright where you were born with a particular gift or purpose that is handed to you right from birth. There are those who were born with a vocal cord of a flute who practically sang instead of cry at the first sight of the delivery room. There are those who were born with missing joints who seem to have danced their way out of their mothers’ wombs. And then there was me… and broken gadgets.