The fisherman

A Fisherman Lives Here With The Best Catch Of His Life

The definition of financial security is the ability to meet future needs while keeping pace with day-to-day obligations.
This can be a combination of things :
you can be rich in money, you can be poor in experience
you can be rich in money and rich in experience
you can be poor in monetary terms but rich in experience
you can be poor in monetary terms and poor in experience.

The most bizarre one is where you have the illusion that you are rich but on closer inspection you realise that you are up to your eyes in debt, you are committed to working long hours and you have no time for leisure, no time for relationships and no time to look after yourself.

I love the story about the fisherman who was happy with his single boat, lived in a small cottage with views over the sea, drank beer with his friends in the pub, happily married with children who met with a man who asked him:

You could be rich, buy a fleet of boats, get people to work for you, fish lots more and make a racket from selling fish to the masses.

And what would I need to do for that?

Well we would be happy to give you a loan, 10 boats will multiply your profits and then you can save for your retirement, sit in the sun man and drink beer. Mind you we only would buy fish that are the same size.

Thank you but no thank you said the fisherman.

The man was stunned. Looked him in the eye and said :

How can you turn down such potential profits and riches?

Because said the fisherman, I know that the sea can crush my boat overnight in rough storms,that fish come in different sizes and by following your lead to the potential you see, I will have to go out and work my guts off, shout at 10 employees, worry about 10 boats and men, fish more than the sea can produce to end up, sitting in the sun and enjoy what exactly?

Well you could go out fishing when you want to, sit in the sun and drink a beer at night with your mates.

Exactly said the fisherman, and how is that different to what I do now and he danced off in the sunset, feeling the richest man in the world.

( adapted)
To feast...another folk tune this time by Great Big Sea, get those dancing shoes on.