Don't Miss Out!

Don’t rush without resting

Time’s trouble and testing

Is always requesting

A new set of hands

Don’t live in a tizzy

Always far too busy

Where goals make us dizzy

With Duty’s demand

Don’t miss out on flowers

And picnics and hours

Spent beneath broad bowers

Of summer’s plush tree

With Book, boy or baby

A blanket, or maybe

A biscuit and gravy

Or a cup of tea

Don’t fret about ‘getting’

Summer’s bloom is threading

Earth’s loom with the shedding

Of green-blush-blue-gold

So work, but remember

Soon it is September

November, December

Summer’s embers cold

Don’t run without walking

Slow enough for talking

Time’s tiptoe is shocking

It touches us all

With longing and laughter

Where mere moment-matter

Writes songs we hear after

Summer turns to fall

 

© Janet Martin

 ...the farmers will plant them
    and enjoy their fruit.

Isa.31:5 

Have you heard the story about the Fisherman and the Businessman?

 

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?”