The Newfoundland Fisherman

A boat was docked in a tiny Newfoundland fishing village.
A tourist from Toronto complimented the Newfie fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
'Not very long,' answered the Newfie.
'But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?' asked the Torontonian.

The Newfie explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The Torontonian asked, 'But what do you do with the rest of your time?'

'I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take an afternoon nap with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs... I have a full life.'

The Torontonian interrupted, 'I have an MBA from Queen's University and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.'

'And after that?' asked the Newfie.
'With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to St John's, Halifax, or even Toronto ! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.'

'How long would that take?' asked the Newfie.

'Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,' replied the Torontonian.
'And after that?'

'Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting,' answered the Torontonian, laughing. 'When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!'

'Millions? Really? And after that?' said the Newfie.

'After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take an afternoon nap with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.'

And the moral is:
Know where you're going in life... you may already be there!

How true We get caught up with stuff and forget to live

Lockie

You can say that again...38 degrees today and we were out vaccinating and drenching calves, where is the sense in that, could be laying on the beach drinking...anything and not losing money.

We should work to live, not live to work. Yes society seems to get caught up with the materalistic things in life, instead of just enjoying the moments. For example today I went for my walk with the dogs, I absolutely enjoy that time of day the sun is going down and it is just me and the dogs tramping along the footpath not another soul in site (and I live in a small town) noticing the trees and what is in bloom, watching a couple of kookaburras going back to their nest and then watching and talking to the cows and seeing a couple of pretty faced wallabies amongst the herd. That is what I enjoy and will take with me during my life.

So the fisherman in my opinion is a very wise man.

yes i will agree with that and i an kind of living his life apart from fishing yuk can't stand fish they stink. after years of working i can now sit back enjoy life and be broke lol

Ceejay

You have the heart of a poet!

regards

Lockie

Although I live in hope that I will eventually have a job worth living for :-)

Thanks for the comment Lockie. My poet sometimes struggles to get out, struggling against the other personalities in there. lol.

Quote from Kooliemum: Although I live in hope that I will eventually have a job worth living for :-)

Put it out there that you want a certain job. I write in my journal my dreams and aspirations all the time and this my sound corny but I believe if you wish it to happen it does. Sometimes it backfires I was wishing back in 2006 for the world to stop so I could have a rest, instead I had my accident and broke my neck. I rested for 3 months. lol.

I think I am blessed with my job. I work in the local library here and I am the only staff member in there so it is me on my own. And I chat with the library patrons (who incidentally miss me when I go away). I love books and reading so in essence I am in a job that I love. Changes are afoot we are amalgamating with the surrounding shires, so ask me in a years time what it is like. People around here don't like the amalgamation happening but I tell them you should always look forward and not back otherwise you tend to trip. lol.

Believe me, I do put it out there that I am going to be an Internal Medicine Vet. And I'm loving the process of getting there, too, although it's been more difficult since Wal's been sick. I used to find that when I was more unhappy in my life/work that I did more journalling etc, and now don't do so much - I'm much busier, obviously, but don't feel the need as much. Guess everyone is different.

BTW, my mum always thought I ought to be a librarian, and for a long time it was in the back of my mind as a possibility. I love books too, love talking to ppl about books.