Fishing?

There is always a sense of lull at the end of any great adventure accomplished or any momentous task completed. I had such a day yesterday. Having almost completely finished my meditative translation of the Tao te Ching I ventured forth for a slow meandering walk doing exactly as the sage had taught, "go with the flow."

I did just that I walked 6.5 miles and just took my time and enjoyed every moment. I passed over a bridge and spoke with a man looking over and into the water as if wishing he had his fishing line with him. I could almost hear him thinking of the fish he might catch.

It is amazing the difference of the distance between the hand of the fisherman and reality when he considers the one that might be caught or the one that got away. In such matter, truth and reality are not all that important.

he was a bit like the man who had boasted to his wife he was off to catch three nice fish for their breakfast. Having cast his line many times and always come up with nothing he headed to the local fish shop where he purchased three beautiful fresh looking fish. 

Before leaving he asked the fishmonger to throw the fish to him one at a time. This way he was able in all honesty to return home and tell his wife he had caught three fish.

As I left my walking companion still standing longingly looking over the bridge I thought, "There is a very fine line between fishing and standing on the bank looking like an idiot.

But I return to to the sage of my study and take some of his words and paraphrase them. There is a time to be at work and to toil and there is a time to relax and ponder and just simply go with the flow.

I will do just that and take a few days to contemplate my work to tidy it up before deciding if it is worthy of sharing or if its worth is in what I have learned in the process.

Join me and have a day just going with the flow.  Have a marvellous day and remember, There are more fish taken out of a stream than ever were in it."