Lessons from a Fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

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

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

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

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard, 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 Mexican.

"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 Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

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

"Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Mexican.

"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 a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings doing what you like and enjoying your friends."

The moral of this story: Know where you're going in life... you may already be there.

Society has us making ourselves crazy trying to attain goals that will supposedly make us happy. If only we would take the time to realize that so much of what brings true, genuine happiness is right there in front of us and nothing that money could ever buy.

Take five minutes today and think of something good that’s right in front of you. I’m doing that right now and I’ll tell you this much- I put Bill Gates to shame!

Happy Tuesday :) 

The Barber

Wow! It has definitely been way too long since I last blogged but fear not fellow readers I am back :) 

B"h I've been MIA from the blog for only good reasons. I recently got engaged to a wonderful guy and between wedding prep, work, and school you could say I've been pretty busy! 

With my Grandfather's Yartzheit approaching I figured there's no better time to get back to blogging. 

As a religious Jew I strongly believe in G-d.

In His existence, His power, in Him being the essence of every single thing in my life. 

That's not to say that I don’t ever have doubts. Especially living in challenging times where so much of G-d is concealed. But no matter how difficult the struggle it is so important to never lose faith. To always remember G-d is there and waiting for us to come to Him.

The following is a cute story with a powerful message in hope of inspiring a little faith:

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine loving a God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens is, people don't go to Him."

G-d is anxiously waiting for us. He is there all day, every day readily available to listen to all that we have to say. There is no matter too trivial or petty that He does not want to hear. Take advantage of that!


Wonderful Shabbos to all :) :)