A story by Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: The miserable Fisherman

Here is one of my favorite stories of Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim:

See what you can learn from it, and how you can apply it to your own life. Which of the characters in the story is most like you? How can you change? How can you apply the lessons of this story to your life? So let’s sit back and relax…..

There was once a fisherman who was always angry and miserable. He had no belief in the goodness of life, never expected any pleasure, and never looked for any happiness. He never expressed any love or affection, and often vented his rage by beating his wife and children. His family was terrified of him, and everyone who knew him avoided him because of his wrathful behavior. His wife and children often wished he would never come back from his fishing trips.

Let’s stop here for a moment. Does this scenario sound familiar to you? Are you like the fisherman, or like his wife? Or if not, do you know of someone who is? Have you tried hard to change your situation, or have you accepted it as inevitable fate? Let’s read on.

One day, the fisherman left for the docks after his usual morning of screaming at his “lazy, good-for-nothing” children and railing at his wife for the breakfast that was never cooked right. Do you act like that sometime too, my dear reader? Do you sometime just seem to get up out of bed on the wrong foot and let everyone know about it? Or are you on the receiving side, and your partner always finds fault in you? Are you meek and submissive like the wife in the story, or do you fight back? What are you doing about it?

The fisherman didn’t do anything but go out to sea as usual, ignoring his feelings and that of his family. Out at sea, the fish weren’t biting, and the fisherman worked himself into an even meaner state. He cursed that he didn’t deserve such a hard life and worthless family and how nothing ever worked out right for him.

Does that sound familiar? Do you sometimes blame your circumstances when things don’t go as you would want them to go? What do you think you should do instead?

.....and stay in tune for the rest of the story.....