What do you really hope to achieve in life? ...... Read this story and you may find that what you are always hoping to achieve, you may be already have it.

There was once an American businessman who was sitting by the beach in asmall Mexican village. As he sat, he saw a Mexican fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore and noticed that the fisherman has caught quite a number of big fishes that is known to be a delicacy.

The American was really impressed and ask the fisherman, "How long does it take you tocatch so many fishes?"

The fisherman reply : "Oh, just a short while."

"Then why don't you stay longer at sea and you could catch even more?" The businessman was astonished.

The fisherman simply does not agree, "This is enough to feed my whole family?" he says.

The businessman then asked : "So, what do you do for the rest of the day then?"

The fisherman reply : "Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fishes, then I would go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I will take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I will join my buddies in the village for a drink, we played guitar, sing and dance throughout the night. My day was ever so complete and carefree."

The businessman does not agree with his way of life and offered a suggestion to the fisherman.

"I am a PhD holder graduated from Harvard University, specialises in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you have to spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fishes as possible. And when you have save enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fishes. As you go on, you will be able to afford to buy more boats, recruit more fishermen and lead a team of your own.

Soon you will be able to set-up your own company, your very own production plant for canned food and do direct selling to your distributors. At that time, you will have moved out of this village and to Mexico city, and then expand your operation to LA, and finally to New York city, where you can set-up your HQ to manage all your other branches.

"The fisherman asks, "So, how long would that take?"

The businessman reply : "About 15 to 20 years."

The fisherman continued, "And after that?"

The businessman laugh heartily, "After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, by then you will be rich, your income will be coming in by the millions!!

"The fisherman ask, "And after that?"

The businessman says, "After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning and catch a few fishes, then return home to play with the kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!!

"The fisherman was puzzled, "Isn't that what I am doing now??"




MORALE OF THE STORY: -

According to Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which comprises various stages, namely Physiological, Safety, Love, Esteem and Self-Actualization, it is said that different people have different needs to satisfy at different stages of their life.

Certain people do not follow the normal progression through the stages. eg. some people may value esteem more than love and will seek success at the expense of friendship. Hence, we cannot simply impose values and beliefs on one another.

This is what makes individuals different and unique. Hence, neither the businessman nor the fisherman is right or wrong. In this light, we can only conclude that cultural differences is not about right or wrong, but simply about being different.

  ¶ 13.6.05