I met a photographer in Spain who worked 4 hours a day and spent the rest of the day with his family. Did he miss out on things? If he instead scaled up and opened a studio he could have eventually been an award winner and managed people across Europe - would that make his life more fulfilling?
I agree that life is the journey. And I agree this story romanticizes doing seemingly nothing over grinding to end up in the same spot.
But there is no right or wrong way to do your journey - outside of choosing one that doesn't fully serve what you want. Too many think bigger means better. Sometimes simple wins the day. It doesn't mean we haven't left an impact. The fisherman doesn't not have experiences. He has different ones. The story of starfish on the beach - a man comes to the beach to find thousands of them stranded on the sand. He starts throwing them back one by one. Another person comes along and asks him 'why bother, there are so many you won't get them all'. The answer as he throws another in - 'it matters to that one'.
I was that businessman for a lot of years. It took me cresting 50 to see the beauty of the fisherman.
Thanks for the reflection. There's no right or wrong for sure. The fact that you did it until 50 and then "relaxed" is also something. You are enjoying the journey, only that your journey is changing!
I am not familiar with the parable but in the summary you give it assumes the fisherman is quite self-serving and lazy in comparison to the enterprising businessman. He catches enough for the day and then sits back and enjoys the afternoon. But life isn’t like that. Fishermen can go days without being able to go to sea because of storms. Days without catching anything. Endless repairs of boats, nets and engines. Also is the fisherman not providing for his family and local community? He may not employ people directly but catching fish is part of a supply chain from boat builders, net makers, equipment, fuel, fishmongers and restaurants etc. The businessman may have caught him in a moment of relaxation, but then wouldn’t the fisherman say the same thing if he saw the businessman on the golf course on a Saturday afternoon, when he goes to sea at 3 AM everyday of the week and by midday he’s already worked an 8-hour shift? And he may have been at sea for several days and nights without rest before the businessman caught him enjoying a well earned glass of wine.
To me the parable speaks more about perception than reality.
The pursuit of worldly glory, fame, and wealth are not more virtuous than simply living one's experience in the present. Society has miseducated so many of us about this, taking some of us the better part of a lifetime to see beyond the lie.
Bravo for being willing to engage with such a deep topic.
I think everything you said is inarguable- the only question here is what is actually being presented in that parable.
You mentioned it being a take on "the rat race." I think you're right. I also think that you may be circuitously in alignment with the parable. How?
Everything you talked about regarding the businessman's life - learning from challenges, engaging in evolution, and more - is separate from the "rat race." For me, if you are involved in a growth process and are awake to it, there's no rats and no race.
My question to you is (and I'm not withholding my answer, just curious to hear your thoughts): do you think that most people in the businessman's place are valuing the personal growth? Or is the growth, in his mind, just a worthless byproduct of the "race"? This is important to me, but it may not be to you, which is all fine.
Is self-development an essential part of pursuing a fulltime, business/entrepreneurial life, antithetical to the fisherman's reality?
I met a photographer in Spain who worked 4 hours a day and spent the rest of the day with his family. Did he miss out on things? If he instead scaled up and opened a studio he could have eventually been an award winner and managed people across Europe - would that make his life more fulfilling?
I agree that life is the journey. And I agree this story romanticizes doing seemingly nothing over grinding to end up in the same spot.
But there is no right or wrong way to do your journey - outside of choosing one that doesn't fully serve what you want. Too many think bigger means better. Sometimes simple wins the day. It doesn't mean we haven't left an impact. The fisherman doesn't not have experiences. He has different ones. The story of starfish on the beach - a man comes to the beach to find thousands of them stranded on the sand. He starts throwing them back one by one. Another person comes along and asks him 'why bother, there are so many you won't get them all'. The answer as he throws another in - 'it matters to that one'.
I was that businessman for a lot of years. It took me cresting 50 to see the beauty of the fisherman.
Thanks for the reflection. There's no right or wrong for sure. The fact that you did it until 50 and then "relaxed" is also something. You are enjoying the journey, only that your journey is changing!
I am not familiar with the parable but in the summary you give it assumes the fisherman is quite self-serving and lazy in comparison to the enterprising businessman. He catches enough for the day and then sits back and enjoys the afternoon. But life isn’t like that. Fishermen can go days without being able to go to sea because of storms. Days without catching anything. Endless repairs of boats, nets and engines. Also is the fisherman not providing for his family and local community? He may not employ people directly but catching fish is part of a supply chain from boat builders, net makers, equipment, fuel, fishmongers and restaurants etc. The businessman may have caught him in a moment of relaxation, but then wouldn’t the fisherman say the same thing if he saw the businessman on the golf course on a Saturday afternoon, when he goes to sea at 3 AM everyday of the week and by midday he’s already worked an 8-hour shift? And he may have been at sea for several days and nights without rest before the businessman caught him enjoying a well earned glass of wine.
To me the parable speaks more about perception than reality.
The pursuit of worldly glory, fame, and wealth are not more virtuous than simply living one's experience in the present. Society has miseducated so many of us about this, taking some of us the better part of a lifetime to see beyond the lie.
Bravo for being willing to engage with such a deep topic.
I think everything you said is inarguable- the only question here is what is actually being presented in that parable.
You mentioned it being a take on "the rat race." I think you're right. I also think that you may be circuitously in alignment with the parable. How?
Everything you talked about regarding the businessman's life - learning from challenges, engaging in evolution, and more - is separate from the "rat race." For me, if you are involved in a growth process and are awake to it, there's no rats and no race.
My question to you is (and I'm not withholding my answer, just curious to hear your thoughts): do you think that most people in the businessman's place are valuing the personal growth? Or is the growth, in his mind, just a worthless byproduct of the "race"? This is important to me, but it may not be to you, which is all fine.
Is self-development an essential part of pursuing a fulltime, business/entrepreneurial life, antithetical to the fisherman's reality?