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The Fisherman and His Son is a parable that illustrates how to be mindfully intentional. It’s been said that the definition of insanity is “Doing the same thing in the same way and expecting different results.” In other words, if what you’re doing isn’t working, doing more of the same isn’t likely to work either. It may be time to do something different.
Mindfulness is a way to do something different.
When we commit to change, it sometimes feels strange at first. If you think about it, this only makes sense because if it didn’t feel weird, you’d probably already be doing it. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to get the change you want. This parable illustrates the concept of being open to trying something new, even if it feels strange at first.
The Fisherman and His Son: A Mindful Parable
A fisherman and his son were at sea, going about the daily tasks of catching enough fish to make their living. It was a beautiful spring day, and they were both enjoying the ocean. They were having a particularly good day. They had caught many fish, and they were ready to turn for home and make their way back to the shore when the fisherman noticed a tiny leak at the bow of the boat. The boat was slowly filling up with water. While the leak wasn’t a big one, they both realized that the boat would be full of water before they could row back to shore.
The father and son began to panic as they thought of the prospect of losing not only their boat, but the fine catch they had made that day. In his panic, the father suddenly seized upon an idea. He grabbed the oar and punched a hole in the side of the boat.
The son thought his fisherman father had gone mad. “What are you doing?” the son shouted.
The father replied, “I’m punching a hole in the bottom of the boat so the water can flow out!”
They both watched in horror as more water rushed into the boat the father had made. Seeing that his idea had not succeeded, but had only made things worse, the father began to furiously punch even more holes in the bottom of the boat.
The son, upon seeing this, yelled at his father, “Will you please stop it? Can’t you see you are only making things worse?”
But the fisherman said, “No, my idea will work! I just didn’t have enough holes in the boat! If I keep punching holes in the boat, the water will eventually flow out!”
The son watched helplessly as the father, in a frenzy, continued to batter more holes into the hull of the boat. Finally, the boat overflowed, sinking to the bottom of the sea and taking the catch of the day with it. The father and son had to swim to shore.
Upon arriving at the shore, totally exhausted, they both realized that they had not only lost a fine catch, but they had also lost their means of making a living. With the boat gone, they could no longer be fishermen. With great sadness, they turned to make their way home, wondering about what they’d do to survive in the future.
To think about…
What solutions to problems have you been trying that only make the problem worse? How could you make it better instead? If what you’re doing isn’t working, could it be time to try something different?
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