Living Within Our Means In A Consumption Crazed Culture
The following parable can be found in many variations across the internet. As far as I can tell Paulo Coelho was the original author.
What I take from this parable is a good life lesson that it is not good to be striving to live beyond our means. It all comes down to the idea that we want to live a good life with our families. In trying to “keep up with the Joneses” so to speak, it only creates more headache and stress to strive so much only to want to come back into balance anyway.
What is all the push for big ticket luxuries and coveting what is outside ourselves? Money is an energy. When we treat money like a cherished friend, it will stay present in our lives and our monetary needs will be met sufficiently.
Referencing the Law of Attraction and Levels of Consciousness from Dr David Hawkins’ book “Power vs. Force”, a company run on greed and money has a low vibration while a company run on compassionate service to employees and customers will have a higher vibration and will be more successful.
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The Fisherman’s Parable:
There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”
The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”
The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”
Paulo Coelho
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With this parable in mind, I prefer to avoid mass marketing schemes, poor customer service, and companies where the bottom line is based in greed.
Yes, I love traveling. Yes, I appreciate going on a cruise. Yes, I still splurge on things once in a while. Yes, I still promote striving to be my best self for my own benefit and the benefit of others.
I just keep an awareness about me of what is behind the scenes and what I am supporting in my choices.
More on the idea of greed and the misuse of money, I often reference the website “Story of Stuff”. There is a 20 minute video that explains the marketing trend of materialism and a consumption crazed culture. Go here: https://www.storyofstuff.org/
I can fully appreciate high quality items in my life. What I have learned though my experiences though, is to be aware of the energy of material items. Where was it made? What is it made of? Who was involved in the production of items? Where were the materials used produced?
All of these factors can affect the overall energy of a material item.
Mass produced, poor working conditions, low quality disposable materials. Is that what we want to bring into our home and personal environment?
I would rather support natural and ethically produced items where ever possible. With this in mind, yes I still shop at some chain stores and continuously clear and bless the energies of items that come into my home.
4 Pillars of Sacred Economics
Moving from Consumerism to Contribution
Moving from Isolation to Community
Moving from Transaction to Trust
Moving from Scarcity Consciousness to Abundance Consciousness