Conversation between fisherman and businessman - a story about values

An American businessman was sitting on the dock of a small fishing village on the Mexican coast, watching a Mexican fisherman rowing a small boat to the shore. There were several large yellowfin tuna on the small boat. The American businessman asked the fisherman how long it would take to catch so many? The Mexican fisherman said that it only took a while to catch it. The American then asked, why don't you stay longer so you can catch more fish? The Mexican fisherman didn’t think so. These fish are enough for my family’s daily needs!

The American asked again: So what do you do with the rest of the day? Mexican fisherman explained: Me? I sleep until I wake up naturally every day, go out to sea to catch a few fish, play with the children when I come back, take a nap with my wife, wander to the village at dusk, drink some wine, and play guitar with my buddies. My life is easy. So full and busy!

The Americans disagreed and gave him advice. He said: I have a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University in the United States. I can help you! You should spend more time catching fish every day. Then you will have money to buy a bigger boat and buy more fishing boats. Then you can have a fishing fleet. Then you can open a cannery of your own. This way you can control the entire production, processing and marketing. Then you can leave this little fishing village and move to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles, and finally to New York. Run your growing business there.

The Mexican fisherman asked: How long will it take? Americans answer: Fifteen to twenty years.

What then?

The Americans laughed and said: Then you can be the emperor at home! When the time comes, you can announce your stock listing and sell your company shares to the investing public. Then you can post it! You can make hundreds of millions!

What then?

Americans say: You can retire by then! You can move to a small fishing village by the sea. I sleep until I wake up naturally every day, go out to sea to catch a few fish, play with the children, and then take a nap with my wife. At dusk, I wander to the village to drink some wine and play guitar with my buddies!

The Mexican fisherman said doubtfully: Isn’t this what I am doing now?

When you see this, you may think it is a joke. Are the final lives of fishermen and businessmen really the same? Those who write about Chicken Soup for the Soul and those who believe in Chicken Soup for the Soul also think they have found the essence of the matter: many times what others are striving for is exactly what we have now, but we are not aware of it. Therefore, we should cherish what we already have more than pursuing what we cannot pursue.

For the rich, their enjoyment of life is not just coming to the beach to bask in the sun, but they enjoy the right to choose life: today he can bask in the sun, tomorrow he can go horse riding, and the day after tomorrow he can You can also go hunting in the forest.

These are all occupations for fishermen, herders, and hunters, and of course they are not surprised. But it is novel for the rich man. The key is that he can choose something else when he gets tired of playing. He has this power.

But the fisherman does not have the right to choose his life. In order to make a living, the fisherman can only stay on the beach all day long, repeating his life every day until he grows old and dies. This is the tragedy of his life.