DJIt was once said that depression is caused by focusing on the past, anxiety is produced by exceedingly worrying about the future, but true happiness and peace occurs when a person lives and enjoys the present. David Steindl-Rast once said, “We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat. . . There’s opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful; that’s what life is.”  What is the focus of your life? Is it making a lot of money? Buying a lot of cars? Owning a big house? Or is the emphasis of your everyday existence is enjoying the little things…the small things…the things that money can’t buy?

Today’s little story serves as a great reminder to take the time to appreciate the true riches in life.

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One day, a fisherman was sitting near seashore, under the shadow of a tree, relaxing and smoking a pipe. A rich businessman passing by approached him
and asked him why he was sitting under a tree smoking and not working. The fisherman replied that he had caught enough fish for the day. He had all the fish he needed.

Hearing this the rich man got angry and said, “Why don’t you try to catch more fish instead of sitting here in the shade of the tree wasting your time?”

The fisherman asked, “What would I do by catching more fishes?”

The businessman replied, “You could catch more fish sell them and earn more money and buy a bigger boat.

The fisherman then asked, “What would I do then?”
The businessman explained, “You could go fishing in deep waters and catch even more fishes and earn even more money.

Again, the fisherman asked, “What would I do then?”
“You could buy many boats and employ many people to work for you and earn even more money, said the businessman.
Once again, the fisherman asked, “What would I do then?”
The businessman went on to say with great pride, “You could become a rich businessman like me.”
One final time, the fisherman repeated his question one final time, “What would I do then?”
The businessman said to his fisherman friend, “You could then enjoy your life peacefully.”
“What do you think I’m doing right now?”
You see folks, you don’t need to wait for tomorrow to be happy and enjoy your life. You don’t even need to be constantly trying to gain wealth and become powerful to enjoy life. LIFE is at this
moment, enjoy it fully. Joseph Brotherton once said, “My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions but in the fewness of my wants.”

 

Enjoy the Day!