Comprehending The Trap

For those that have yet to comprehend the trap, the rat race is being stuck in an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit.

This experience of unhappily going through the motions in life, trudging through the daily grind of my workday feeling unfulfilled, unchallenged, and uninspired affected me all day until I eventually went to bed at the end of the day. Only to repeat the whole process again the very next day for years on end.

In fact, there was a time in America when people worked for the same company for 30 or 40 years and on their last day, they walked off the job with a fancy plaque and gold watch engraved with their name and company logo. When family and friends would gather to celebrate a person’s retirement and enjoy the reminder of their life.

This was my trajectory, and it sucked which leads me to a great story.

An American Businessman 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 fisherman on the quality of his fish and inquired as to how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, “Only a little while."

The American then asked, "Why didn’t you stay out longer to catch more fish?"

The fisherman responded, "This is more than enough to support my family. Why would I stay out longer?"

“But what do you do with the rest of your time?” The American asked.

To that, the fisherman said, “I sleep late, play with my children, and take siestas with my wife Maria. Then if I feel like it, I stroll into the village where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I'm a busy guy.”

Unimpressed, the American scoffed, “I have an MBA, I can help you to do things right. You should spend more time fishing. With the proceeds of the extra catch, invest in a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you invest in several boats. Eventually you would own an entire fleet.

Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor. One day, you could acquire your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to a big city to run your expanding enterprise.”

The fisherman paused in thought, then asked, “How long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the fisherman.

The American triumphantly 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. You would become extraordinarily rich; a millionaire!”

“After I'm a millionaire – then what?” Asked the fisherman.

The American proudly stated, “Then ... well ... you would live the good life. You would be so rich that you could retire and move to a small coastal fishing village. You would be wealthy enough to sleep late, fish a little, play with your children, and take siestas with your wife every single day."

If you wanted, every evening you could stroll into the village to sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.

"You would never have to work again."

There is a hunger that many of us feel that drives us to find greater meaning in our lives, our relationships and our work. A burning desire to engage more meaningfully with those we love, to feel the incredible thrill of encountering new experiences that move us emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

This search for deeper engagement with life is what leads to travel, education, and exploration, but also destructive forms of self-medication that are intended to stifle our inner voice, the one that challenges our current life choices.