The title line comes from a prologue i wrote to a short film I did on why i was ready to leave Manhattan. It was sometime in the late 60’s. After I had left and moved to a small town in Vermont many of my friends and associates asked why I would give up a successful career to start over as a sculptor.

About that time I came across this story and used it to answer their question.

If you haven’t seen it yet it something to think about.

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An American business man was at the pier in a small Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the boat were several yellow fin  tuna. The American complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.

The American then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish.The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each night where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life senor.”

The American scoffed, “ I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. You could buy several boats and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the processing and distribution.  You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run the expanding enterprise.

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But Senor, how long will this all take?”

The American replied “15- 20 years.”

“But what then senor?”

The American laughed and then said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.”

“Millions, senor, then what?”

The American said, ”Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play the guitar with your amigos.”

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