The Pursuit of Happiness

"It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?"

-Christopher Gardner

Most people think of life as chasing goals and more often than not, after tackling all sorts of difficulties, they realize they are now still further from the goalpost than when they began.

It's odd too see how people look up at attaining happiness and lose out on the journey called 'The Pursuit of Happiness'. Why is happiness something that has to be pursued? Why can't everyone have it?

A Plan For The Future

An investment banker was on the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. His boat was full of beautiful yellow tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on his catch, asking how long it took to catch.

The fisherman replied, "Only a short time."

The banker asked, "Why not stay out and catch more?"

The fisherman replied, "I've enough fish to feed my family."

The banker then asked what did the fisherman do with the rest of his time, and he replied, "I will sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening, sip wine with my friends, play my guitar. I have a full and busy life."

The banker was not impressed. "I have a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat and from those increased proceeds you could buy several boats and soon have a fleet. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you could control production, processing and distribution by building your own cannery. You could leave this small coastal village and move to the city then to New York where you could run your expanding enterprise."

The fisherman asked, "How long will this take?"

The banker said, "Ten to 20 years. Then you would announce an IPO and sell your stock to the public, making millions and millions."

"But what then?"

"Ah, now you get to the best part", said the banker smiling. "You could retire to a small coastal village where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings, sip wine and play your guitar with your friends."