Gratitude. Sadness. Happiness. Perspective. Simplicity
"For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn." (Ernest Hemmingway)
"Smile. What a beautiful day."
One sentence makes us cry. The other makes us happy. Just a few words. One sentence about money and the past and another about the present.
I was biking in the sun. Listening "Lose yourself from Eminem. On the way, I saw an older guy, sitting in his wheelchair looking at the river and into the sun. I passed by. Right after, on a pile, I stopped seeing a pair of small baby shoes, wondering about their story. Did they have a story? Not for sale but to take? Did someone just lose them here? I will never find out because things don't talk. They will never do it. I can just wonder, think. I wanted to take a picture, stopped for a moment. I put my MTB into the picture to symbolize happiness, fun, and adventure we can choose to have in life, between birth and death.
I decided to talk to the older guy in the wheelchair, just to say Hello, maybe to hear and learn something from him. So, I went back.
"How are you?" He smiled and said: "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"
I had to smile too, said yes and we remained in silence, enjoying the moment together for another moment.
We didn't really talk more, because he taught me everything with this. Enjoy the moment. I grabbed my bike and moved on. On, to another trail, to another adventure into my future. Living my life.
A great experiment is to really imagine and play your last 24 hours of life. Imagine you would have just 24 hours more to live. What would you do, Where would you be, What would you say!
The Mexican Fisherman and the Investment Banker
One other of my favourite stories about gratitude is the well-known story of the Fisherman and the Investment Banker:
"An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican 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 didn’t he 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 siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” 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. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, 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 product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”
“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.
The American laughed and 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 – 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 siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.” (https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/)
"If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough. (Oprah Winfrey)
The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. It’s so easy to make it complex. What’s important is leading an examined life. (Yvon Chouinard)
Simplicity, Vulnerability, Dependency, Feeling small in Nature, Faith - leading into - Hope Believe and Gratitude
Ikigai: Your reason to be; why you get up in the morning, something that motivates and gives one a sense of purpose. This film
delves into the Japanese belief that everyone has a reason to be, and a pursuit to commit their life to; a purpose which imbues a person's life.
(A lucky man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuMstz-M5yY)
Book: It's all good! (Lars Amend)
Movie: Dieses bescheuerte Herz
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