As my last note on happiness and attaining it, here is a story that has been at the back of my mind for a while now.
It keeps my priorities straight, and my life in perspective.
Author Unknown
An American tourist 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 yellowfin tuna. The tourist 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.”
The tourist then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”
The Mexican said, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
The tourist 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.”
The tourist scoffed, ” I can 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 could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
The tourist replied, “15 to 20 years.”
“But what then?” asked the Mexican.
The tourist laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions?…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.”
What I understood from the story:
Other than the obvious “money doesn’t mean you are happy”, I am even more convinced that TIME is a more precious resource than we think.
Having the time to do what you want, is refreshing.
And after you take a break and survey your life, you realize that having all that money just to buy things, is not worth the long hours, stress and resentment.
So, you just simply cut back on your expenses, so that your money goes farther, rather than always trying to make more money.
Barbara J Carter
on Jan 20th, 2010
@ 8:02 pm:
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing this parable, it's very apt.
Charley
on Jan 20th, 2010
@ 9:56 pm:
I enjoy this story when it comes up from time to time. You'd think it would sink in for me but here I am still chasing money. Not to buy stuff, but under the false pretense of future security. Some day, I'll actually do something about it….
- Charley
Tweets that mention The American Tourist and Mexican Fisherman | The Everyday Minimalist -- Topsy.com
on Jan 20th, 2010
@ 4:56 pm:
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brett
on Jan 21st, 2010
@ 1:49 am:
this is a very eye opening story
Dallas
on Jan 21st, 2010
@ 5:43 am:
My goal is to live and work in the Caribbean. Forget material possessions. Experiences are irreplaceable.
Natasha
on Jan 21st, 2010
@ 7:46 am:
Maybe this is why I've realized that having a high paying, high stress job (or a job in education) might not be worth it after all. Being able to enjoy the time I have could be even better than having it all and time to do the things I really love to do. Why do we work so hard all our lives to have it easier at the end of it when we can't do as much anyway?
Marie
on Jan 21st, 2010
@ 6:32 pm:
I agree, time is more precious than money. But I feel the fisherman and the tourist represent 2 extremes: The fisherman isn't concerned with the future, he'll be working like this until he dies. He hasn't set up plan for emergencies or illness. The tourist on the other hand is willing to trade his present in hopes of a future that may not happen. He may die from the stress without spending time building a relationship with his family & community or enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Shouldn't there be a happy medium? Or maybe I think there should be a way to have it all. Enjoy the now And feel safe for the future.
evrydaymnmalist
on Jan 22nd, 2010
@ 1:26 am:
That's a good point.
Perhaps the extremes are a way of really driving the point home?
And in the fisherman's case, maybe (like my father) he thinks his kids are his retirement plan
And for the tourist, his savings are his retirement plan.
evrydaymnmalist
on Jan 22nd, 2010
@ 1:30 am:
But if you love the job, maybe the payoff of it being intense and challenging might be worth it for you.
We work pretty hard all of our lives so that we don't have to work when we're old and tired… but sometimes people can take it too far.
There's no point in having millions if you are just going eat tuna out of a can and live in fear of living in the moment.
evrydaymnmalist
on Jan 22nd, 2010
@ 1:30 am:
Hence why I travel
Experiences and memories… it still makes me smile/laugh when I recount them.
evrydaymnmalist
on Jan 22nd, 2010
@ 1:30 am:
What I do, is chase after money, but also try to keep my expenses low, so that more of my cash, goes a longer way.
Rose
on Jan 26th, 2010
@ 3:35 am:
I've never heard this story, but I like it a lot. I agree with a previous commenter who said the story portrays two extremes. Sometimes (often) I wish I'd discovered minimalism sooner than 25. Perhaps then I would not have ended up so far in debt without experiences or even possessions! But, can't change the past, so I'm glad I've changed now. (You wouldn't believe how much I balked at the thought of what the American in the story was suggesting. I wouldn't want to live that way at all.)
Concojones
on Aug 23rd, 2010
@ 1:02 pm:
This story should be required reading for every kid in school and adult.
evrydaymnmalist
on Aug 23rd, 2010
@ 7:30 pm:
I love reading it every couple of years. It makes you re-adjust your perspective.