Truthful Tuesday

A friend of mine sent this to me and it had a hard truth and an important moral to impart. I hope you understand it by the time you are done reading this short story.
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An American businessman 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, Senor."

The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate 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, Senor."

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 LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But Senor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15-20 years."

"But what then, Senor?" 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, Senor? 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."

"You mean being a Harvard MBA, you have to go thru all that to finally get to where I already am, Senor?"
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How foolish we become when we work so hard to get to the place where we can finally enjoy what we ignored to get to the place where we want to end up! It saddens me to think that instead of enjoying what really matters in the earthly realm – family, children, friends...a sip of wine and a stroll on the beach, etc. – that so many people work non-stop to get to a place where they believe they can finally enjoy all of it (if they don’t die first from stress), but at what cost? What is more important, working 60, 80 or 100 hour weeks to try and enjoy your family and life before you die or working a 40 or 50 hour week and having time in the evenings to enjoy the laughter of your children and their sweet hugs and kisses and the warmth of the smile from your spouse or loved one? Pursue happiness with what is most important now instead ignoring them in pursuit of a “comfortable” future b/c if you ignore them now instead of investing in them, you won’t have those important people in your life to share your future with. You will have isolated them from your life with work. Remember the saying, no man (or woman) ever went to his (her) grave saying “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”