Once upon a time, the Japanese leaders wanted to eat fresh fish. They had eaten frozen fish up to the point that they were almost growing fresh fish from their heads, and they got bored of frozen fish. They longed for the taste of fish that was fresh from the seas. They longed for those good old days on the sea.
So they instructed their fishermen, please don’t freeze the fish, we want to eat them fresh! The fishermen went on a fish harvest, they caught the fish, killed them kept them in the ship and hurried back to mainland. The leaders tasted the fish, and shook their heads in disagreement, these did not quite taste like the memories they had. The fishermen had to try again.
This time around the fishermen decided to be creative. Maybe the reason why the fish didn’t taste fresh was because they had died for hours. They went offshore again, this time they kept the fish alive. They wet them with water from time to time so they barely stayed alive. The Japanese leaders could see the fish before they were cooked, they tasted it, and again disagreed, “it’s close to it, but this is not the fresh fish”. The fishermen once again had to go offshore.
Wow, tired and almost frustrated, they decided to find ways to ensure that this was the last trip. The decided to go to the seas with a big tank of water, they put sufficient salt in the water so that it would be salty – The natural habitat of sea fish. They caught a good number of fish put it in the salty water tank- certainly this time there was no missing it. Arriving the shore, you could see smiles all over the faces of the soon to be successful Japanese fishermen. They cooked the fish again, this time the Japanese leaders had a smile on their face, “it sure tastes like fresh fish, but no, this is still not the fresh fish of those days, maybe they don’t come so tasty anymore.” The fishermen were once again astounded, they decided to taste the fresh fish for themselves, and to their suprise even they agreed, that it wasn’t quite fresh.
They decided not to give up, what is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. They decided
to venture again into the deep, this time around with firm belief that they knew what it took to get “fresh fish”. They decided to spend a little more time this time around. They
still had the salt water tank with them, and this time around, rather than just catching the fish, they went ahead to catch sharks as well. They caught more fish this time around and a few sharks to keep them company. The sharks pursued the fish all over the tank catching some , loosing many, all the way back to the shore. The fishermen once again took out the fish, cooked them and presented them to the Japanese leaders, and guess what? It tasted fresh as ever!
Morale: Life can’t be quite the same without challenges. The hustle and bustle, the rigours, the mountains, the highs and the lows, all the sharks of life make you fresh! Stop whinning about your predicaments, stop complaining about your struggles. Keep running, learning, growing, moving and if possible don’t let them catch or kill you. Those are the things that make you strong and keep you fresh. Kings and people in authority need you fresh! Your clients, need you fresh! Your boss needs you fresh! Your community needs you fresh, your country needs you fresh! Stay fresh!
This is not from the house of fresh 🙂
3 thoughts on “Stay Fresh”
Is this a folktale or is it original?
It’s my version of an origal story. The Japanese truely solved the problem of the desire for fresh fish by putting sharks in their tanks. If you want your blood to flow and you want to live on the edge and be a conqueror, it won’t happen without sharks in your tank. You need to see my tank 🙂
hmm.life isnt complete without challenges. the sharks only help to motivate one that we must keep moving ahead if we do not want to be eaten by the sharks.