are we already there chasing a ghost?

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

Thank you

A guy named Leo wrote the following post on a web site John shared with me-Why should the simple act of thinking about who and what I’m grateful for make such a big difference in my life?

Just a few reasons:

• Because it reminds you of the positive things in your life. It makes you happy about the people in your life, whether they’re loved ones or just a stranger you met who was kind to you in some ways.
• Because it turns bad things into good things. Having problems at work? Be grateful you have work. Be grateful you have challenges, and that life isn’t boring. Be grateful that you can learn from these challenges. Be thankful they make you a stronger person.
• Because it reminds you of what’s important. It’s hard to complain about the little things when you give thanks that your children are alive and healthy. It’s hard to get stressed out over paying bills when you are grateful there is a roof over your head.
• Because it reminds you to thank others. I’ll talk about this more below, but the simple act of saying “thank you” to someone can make a big difference in that person’s life. Calling them, emailing them, stopping by to say thank you … just taking that minute out of your life to tell them why you are grateful toward them is important to them. People like being appreciated for who they are and what they do. It costs you little, but makes someone else happy. And making someone else happy will make you happy.

photo shop

crackpot

  An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on
the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

    
    

    One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot
was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
     


    At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked
pot arrived only half full.

    

    For a full two years this went on daily, with the
woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.
     
   

    Of course , the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
     

    

    But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and
miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
     


    After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to
the woman one day by the stream
     

    

    "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to
leak out all the way back to your house."
     


    The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your
side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"
     



    "That's because I have always known about your flaw,
so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and
every day while we walk back, you water them."
     

    
    "For two years I have been able to pick these
beautiful flowers to decorate the table.
     


    Without you being just the way you are, there would
not be this beauty to grace the house."
     


    Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the
cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together
so very interesting and rewarding.
     

    

    You've just got to take each person for what they are
and look for the good in them.
     
    

    SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day
and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! 

Question everything

love this image by Melanie Einzig

10 k for breast cancer

John and I ran 10k on Saturday for breast cancer. I had never run that far before and it was a real challenge. John was really patient with me and stayed with me as I stayed at a steady pace and only upped it a little on the last 100 meters. Vince Jones started the whole thing and finished well ahead of us. All the training paid off.

John's birthday

On John's birthday, 24th Sep. We went to London. We started at the war memorial museum and then went to the National Gallery and then the portrait gallery. We ate in china town at lunch time and then we went to a show in the evening. We saw The mouse trap, which has been running for over 50yrs. We didn't arrive home until 5am - took us a week to get over it! :)