It‘s always interesting how we tend to rush
things. For example, summer. Technically, summer
doesn‘t begin until June 21st, at 12:49 p.m.
(PDT). But try telling that to those of us whooping it up on this
Memorial Day Weekend. As far as they – or we
– are concerned, summer has now begun. And what
a lovely thought that is, after the dreary cold spring we have had!
Summer is a fun time, and a time – if we wish
– for reflection on what we want out of life.
Some anonymous genius wrote a fable about this, which goes as
follows (I am retelling it in my own way): Building A Business One
summer, an American investment banker was vacationing in Mexico, in
a small coastal village. He was down at the dock just as a small
boat was docking. The banker noted that on the deck of the small
boat were several large yellow fin tuna, and only one young Mexican
fisherman. He addressed the fisherman in English (which he
understood), extended his compliments on the quality of those fish,
and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied,
"Only two or three hours." The banker then asked why he fished so
briefly. The fisherman said two or three hours of such work gave
him enough money to support his family‘s
immediate needs. Said the banker, "But what do you do with the rest
of your time?" The fisherman said, "My day is this: I sleep late,
then fish a little, then play with my children, take siesta with my
wife, Maria, then stroll into the village each evening where I sip
wine and play guitar with my amigos." The banker saw an opportunity
to be helpful. He said, "Back in the States I am an investment
banker. If you wouldn‘t mind a little advice, I
think I could help you with your business." The fisherman looked
curious. "What would you advise?" "Well," said the banker, "Were I
in your shoes, I would spend more time fishing each day. You would
eventually be able to buy a bigger boat with your increased
proceeds." "And what then?" asked the fisherman. "Well, with the
proceeds you would receive from using the bigger boat you would
eventually be able to buy several such boats.
You‘d have a fleet. And with that clout, you
could get rid of the middleman, and sell directly to the processor.
Eventually you could open your own cannery, leaving you controlling
the product, the processing and the distribution." "And what then?"
asked the fisherman. "Well, at that point you could afford to live
anywhere. You could put your wife and your kids in a luxurious
house or condo, say in New York, and just enjoy all the fruits of
your vast enterprise." The fisherman said, "Very interesting. How
long would all this take?" To which the American replied, "I think
you could achieve all this easily within 15-20 years." "And what
then?" asked the fisherman. The banker laughed triumphantly,
"That‘s the best part! When the time is right,
you take your firm public, and immediately you become very rich. In
fact, you would make millions." "Millions...!!! Very interesting.
And what then?" the fisherman asked. The banker thought for a
moment. "Well, gee. At that point, you could afford to retire. A
wonderful retirement, in fact. You could move to a small coastal
fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play
with your grandchildren, take siesta with your wife, Maria, stroll
to the village in the evenings where you would sip wine and play
your guitar with your amigos." Why Wait? The point, of course, is
that many times we could have now the life we are only dreaming
about having sometime in the distant future. But, the first
condition of having it now, is to know what it is. Leisure time in
summer is a good time to put this together, by noticing what you
love to do, when no one is telling you what to do. One man I know
of – a salesman – used his
summer in just such a way, but was dismayed to notice that what he
most loved to do would never generate enough income to support his
family: he loved to ‘play
bridge‘! But, he started small
– holding on to his sales job
– just teaching bridge to people on Friday
nights and weekends. Soon he was in such demand that he had to quit
his regular job to teach bridge full time. Eventually he had to
hire other teachers. In time, he expanded to other cities. He ended
up earning far more than he had ever earned as a salesman. And
doing what he loved to do. The moral of our tale:
don‘t ever give up on finding the life you would
most love to live. And finding it now.
