Inspirational story: Is the fish really too big for you?

One day the two fishermen, one was an experienced one, the other was a beginner, decided to fish in a nearby pond. Both of them were looking forward to a successful day of fishing. They both had packed utensils, cooking accessories, ingredients and fishing equipment. Once they arrived at the pond, they chose to sit at a reasonable distance not to “steal” each other’s fish.

The experienced fisherman caught a big and beautiful fish within a few minutes. He was very happy as he placed the fish in the icebox to retain its freshness. His plan was to cook the fish whole in the afternoon. He then continued to fish and in a short time caught a few more small fishes. He put them all into the icebox so he could take them home.

After about an hour of fishing, the experienced fisherman offered to help the less experienced fisherman which has not yet caught any fish. But the less experienced fisherman politely declined. After some time the less experienced fisherman also caught a large fish. Surprisingly, he threw it back into the pond. The experienced fisherman was bewildered by the act. He remained silent as he watched the less experienced fisherman capture many big fishes only to thrown them back into the water.

After a while, the experienced fisherman became annoyed by this and he decided too approached the less experienced fisherman wondering, ‘Why are you throwing the fishes back into the water? They were beautiful and big!’ The less experienced fisherman replied, ‘I know they were big, but I don’t have a big enough pan to cook them! So I’m looking for a smaller fish that fits my cooking pan!”

The experienced fisherman was shocked by the response. After a couple of moments, he advised the less experienced fisherman to cut the big fish into pieces which will fit into the small pan.

Lessons from this story:

Imagine the fish are opportunities and the pan is your comfort zone or your experiences. Many people get afraid because they are presented with a bigger opportunity than they ever had experienced. And because of fear they end up passing the opportunity or like the less experienced fisherman they “throw them back”. On the other hand, the experienced fisherman knows the big fish may be too big to take on in one piece so he “cuts” them into smaller more manageable pieces.

Don’t let fear prevent you from experiencing something new.