A simple story about a fisherman....

There once was a man that lived in a farming village, yet he was a fisherman.  The river that passed this village was too swift to provide any fish for the fisherman, and it was very dangerous by the shore.  But this man fished every day.  Some days he would catch a fish, but most days he did not.  But he had friends in the farming village, and even though he couldn't make the living he wanted to make, he stayed at the village, because that's what was comfortable to him.

One windy day, the fisherman went to the river's edge to cast his line into the river.  He did not notice that the jagged rocks on which he stepped were wet from the crashing of the waves with the wind.  Upon casting his line out into the water, the man slipped, and fell into the brisk river.  In a panic, he grasped tightly to a few small jagged rocks protrouding from the river.

The waves on this windy day crashed upon the man, smashing his body into the rocks, yet he continued to grasp onto the rocks with all his might.  "I can't let go", cried the man.  He thought of his friends in the village that he would never see again if he were to drown.  He thought "even though I do not have the life I have wanted, I still want to stay right here!".  So the man clinged to the rocks as if it were his lifeline.

What the man did not realize, was that what he clinged to so tightly, was actually killing him.  By remaining on those rocks, the waves from the swift river were pummeling his body into the rocks, slowly ending his life.  What he thought was the comfort of safety, was the pinnacle of danger.

More waves came crashing in, and the man smashed his face upon the rocks.  As his pain grew worse, finally the light went off.  "What I cling to is actually hurting me!"  "If I keep holding on, I will surely die.  But if I let go, there's a chance that I will not drown."  So the man took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and with faith, let go of the rocks.

The man was quickly swept into the river, but to his surprise, he did not get pulled under the water.  In fact, he was able to float!  The river whisked him away, and as it did, he began to see things he had never seen before.  "This land is so beautiful!  I've only seen the farming village where I lived.  I never knew such beauty existed!".  The man continued to float on the river, and soon, he realized that he could also control where he was going.  "I can control which way I move, just by using my arms!".  As the river twisted left and right, so did the man, now in control of where he was floating.

After a while, the river started to become peaceful.  The man looked around with wonder.  "I can't believe I'm here", he thought.  After a few minutes, he saw a fisherman on the shore.  The man on the shore called out to him. "Are you ok?"  "Yes", relied the man.  The river was now calm enough that the man was able to swim to the shore.  He explained to the man on the shore that he was a fisherman from a farming village way up the stream.  The other man laughed. "Why would you be fishing in a farming village?  That seems awfully silly".  The man thought about it and said "Now that you mention it, it is.  I never really caught anything".  The other man asked "Then why did you stay?"  The man replied "I didn't know anything else, and I was comfortable there.  Even though I didn't have the life I wanted, it wasn't bad.  It just wasn't..... good."  The other man laughed.  "Well, you will like it here then.  This is a prosperous village.  We have both farmers AND fisherman!  But we need some more.  Would you be interested in staying with us?"  The man did not have to think about it at all.  After all he had been through, he saw now what the Universe intended for him to see all the time.

If he would have continued to hold on to something that wasn't good for him, he would not have been able to find where he fit in.  And although the journey was frightening at first, he soon learned that he had much more control than he thought he did.  And finally, he found out that what he thought he wanted, was not what he wanted at all.  And when he got what he needed, he realized that's what he wanted the whole time.

The Universe dreams dreams for us that are so much bigger than anything you could possibly dream for yourself.  But if you are holding on to something that you need to let go of, those things will never manifest themselves in your life.

So, are you going to continue to hold on to the rocks and get battered, or are you going to move forward with faith, and see all of the infinite number of possibilites that are in store for you?

Move foward with faith, not fear.

Love and light to you all..

A simple story about a fisherman....