A fisherman on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
Standing on a pier in a remote coastal village, a vacationing American businessman watched as a tiny boat ladened with tuna docked nearby. Clearly impressed with the quality of the local fisherman’s catch, the American asked how long it took him to reel in his haul.
“Only a short while,” responded the fisherman.
“Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”
“With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
“But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
Seeming a bit perplexed by the question, the fisherman smiled and 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 American scoffed, “I can help you. If you spent more time fishing you could earn enough to buy a bigger boat and even hire some extra hands. By plowing your profits back into the business you could buy more boats and eventually amass an entire fleet of trawlers. Then you can leave this little village and move to a big city where it will be easy to manage your growing enterprise.”
“How long will this all take?” asked the fisherman.
“Fifteen, maybe twenty years.”
“That’s a long time. Why would I want to do that?”
The American laughed and said, “Because after all of those years of hard work your company will be large enough that you can sell it and use the proceeds to retire.”
“What will I do then?”
“That’s the best part. Once you retire you can move to a small coastal village, sleep late, fish a little, play with your grandchildren, take siesta with your wife in the afternoon and, in the evening, stroll into town where you can sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.”
– Adapted from a story by Heinrich Böll
Everywhere Once 
Oh I love this story. I needed it today. Thanks for sharing!
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Reblogged this on digger666 and commented:
…not merely worth retelling; words to live by, indeed.
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Reblogged this on ToneManBlog and commented:
A great story from a favorite blog of mine!
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Very good x helps to be reminded of this story. My husband has gone fishing today and I was feeling like I should be busy, but I will just sit down and read some super blogs instead!
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Ha. Sounds awesome. Glad ours made your blogs to read list. 🙂
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I like this story too! This story need to share with everyone except lazy people. Lazy people also likes this story too 😉
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Lazy, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. The Puritans, who view work as a good in and of itself, would surely consider our fisherman lazy. We’ve certainly been accused of laziness, despite keeping quite busy, because we resist the custom of selling all of our time to the highest bidder.
That’s not to say that the word is so broad as to be meaningless. We’d probably reserve it for those whose inactivity is doing actual harm – either to themselves, their families or their communities.
To the truly lazy who look to our fisherman as a source of inspiration, I’d remind them that he states quite clearly “I [earn] more than enough to support my family’s needs.” Only if they can make the same claim can they call our fisherman a kindred spirit.
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Thank you for the story. It relates so directly to a project I have some how fallen into it isn’t even funny. The story will definately be coming to mind to keep the perspective right.
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I hadn’t read this version of the story, so thanks for sharing it! Another pointer to living in the present and getting your priorities right.
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Hahah I love this. It’s so true 🙂
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Reblogged this on danscape photography and commented:
What a perfectly times tale.
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So very true, life is about lots more things than making maoney
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Thanks for sharing.
The author is actually not unknown, but the German author and Nobel prize laureate Heinrich Böll. Check out his books, you might like them as much as I do.
Here’s some background information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anekdote_zur_Senkung_der_Arbeitsmoral
Böll cunningly entitled the story “An anecdote to lower work morale”.
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Awesome, thanks. I knew the story and spent some time looking for an accreditation but couldn’t find one. Thanks to you I’ve now given credit where credit is due.
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I love this story. Thank you for sharing, Brian. I just found this blog and I’m gradually checking out much of the posts. I like what I see so far.
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Thank you. We’re glad you’re enjoying it.
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