BEING AT PEACE WITH YOURSELF

An old fisherman was sitting there with his line in the water.
Ships were passing up and down the river. I stopped to chat with him.
" When I was a boy, " he confided to me, " I wanted to be a boat captain,
   but ended up keeping books for 40 years in an office. "

We talked a bit, then I remarked, " Fish must be biting on on a cloudy day
                                                        like this. "

He smiled, took his pipe out of his mouth, and said, " You know, I really
don't like river fish anyway, what with this water pollution. Besides, I hate
to clean fish. When my wife was alive it was different. But now ...
Actually, I just like to sit in here and watch the ships go by. I just daydream
and let my thoughts roam. But if I sit here without a fishing rod, some people
get funny ideas... like the fellow who thought I wanted to jump in and drown
myself. So I just hang on to this poles for looks.  I'm not seriously fishing.
And if I do catch fish occasionally, I throw it back in. "

So that's what this old retired man did : he relaxed at his own pace.
He was at peace with himself in the late years of his life.
How many people are as fortunate ?

                                                                   by  Willi Hoffsuemmer