One day, two fishermen, one experienced and the other, a novice, decided to fish in a nearby pond. They had packed utensils, cooking accessories, and ingredients.
When they arrived at the pond, they chose to sit at a reasonable distance away from each other so as not to “steal” each other’s fish. Pretty soon, the experienced fisherman caught a big beautiful bass. He was very happy as he placed the fish in the icebox to retain its freshness. He planned to cook the fish whole in the afternoon.
He then continued to fish and in a short time caught a few more smaller fish. He put them all into the icebox to bring home.
After some time the novice fisherman too caught a large fish. Surprisingly, he threw it back into the pond.
The experienced fisherman was puzzled. He remained silent as he watched the novice fisherman capture many more big fish only to throw them back into the water.
After a while, the experienced fisherman could not hold back his curiosity any longer. He walked over to the novice fisherman and asked “Why are you throwing the fish back into the water? They were beautiful and big.”
The fisherman replied, “I know they were big, but I don’t have a big enough pan to cook them! So I’m looking for a smaller fish that can fit into my cooking pan!”
The experienced fisherman was speechless for a few moments. He then taught the novice fisherman to cut the big fish into smaller pieces that would fit into the small pan.
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Life lesson from the tale of the two fishermen
Imagine the fish are opportunities and the pan is your comfort zone or experiences. Many people are afraid when presented with a bigger opportunity than what they experienced. And because of fear, they end up passing up the opportunity. Just like the novice fisherman they “throw them back”.
The experienced fisherman knows that the big fish may be too big to take on all in one piece, so he “cuts” them up into smaller more manageable pieces.
Moral of the story? Find a mentor who can show you how to cut up the big fish into smaller pieces and guide you to cook it.
Don’t let fear prevent you from taking on that new adventure that can take you to new heights.
Wednesday Wisdom is a series with short bursts of easy-to-consume wisdom in the form of inspiring stories, verses, quotes, anecdotes, reflections, easy meditation, thought-provoking questions, and humor. Oh yeah, some days are not so short.
