Gone Fishing

Consider the following: (the subsequent metaphor will be comical and sophomoric but enjoy it while your young)

A young boy dreamed always wondered what the big kill felt like. Growing up in rural Southern California, he had dreams of riding his off-road through the mountains of NorCal and setting up camp, scoring something BIG. After years of preparing for that perfect moment in the high mountains, the young man heard something in the brush. He turned and aimed his 75' Winchester to where the noise came. After much patience and concentration, the animal came out from the brush and was more than an animal. Standing 12 feet tall, the big brown carnivore stood merely 20 feet from the "still" young boy, clearly aggressively prepared to "feed the family". He nervously aimed his rifle towards the jugular and pulled the iron... once, CHU CHU, twice... CHU CHU, and a third time. After the smoke cleared from the third shot, the mammal hit the ground...the big bear was his to take home and dwell. And so it would for the rest of his life.

Another young boy, lived outside urban Philadelphia, with posters of Kevin VanDam and a Bill Dance tape in his VCR, loved days when he could escape and go to the river, throw in a line, and reel in a BIG FISH. Fruitlessly, he would endlessly throw out lines in his front yard in the hopes of finding the perfect technique yielding the flawless cast. After years of practicing and honing his skills, he set out on a month long fishing expedition with his buddies. Throughout the week, he turned up nothing substantial finding merely pennies among his friends Benjamin's, until the end of the week. He settled in at Crabtree Cove, notoriously known as a dead zone to catch something significant. Spending hours with his line in the water, hanging out reflecting on the week, he finally felt a bite on his line. Just a small nib. Waking up from his daze, he sprung to his feet in wait of the big bite, slowing reeling his Quantum. As the ripples of the water indicated the size of the bite, he finally saw the BIG RIPPLE. Furiously, he began to reel in his catch, and boy did it ever feel big. Pulling closer and closer, it became more and more difficult, even uncomfortable. When finally he pulled into the boat, the biggest catch of his life. It was so heavy, the boat sank closer to the surface of the water upon pulling it into the chassis. He was so satisfied, so much so that the "big fish" story meant so much more. The biggest catch of his life became the challenge he conquered. No one saw it, but he did, and people will "see" it eventually. And so, he threw it back and headed home, only to come back another day to catch another fish.

It is so important to never be satisfied. In your career, in your relationships, in In-N-Out, whatever, its monumentally important to catch the fish and throw it back, with the hopes that you'll be able to catch another. 

I plan on doing with the fisherman did. My story will be told through things i get my hands on, only to throw those things back, in the hopes of catching something else.

Consider being the fisherman.

(written 6.8.08, transcribed 7.2.08)

SL