An Important Lesson about a Fishing Rod
Sometimes we cherish things so much that we miss the time to enjoy them.
Image by tookapic on Pixabay
I used to love going fishing with my late grandfather, my Opa, in the Netherlands. He would wake me up at the crack of dawn and tell me to get dressed. We would walk to the shed where we would make the bait from wet bread dough that he then stored inside an old metal cigar box. He had a special small fishing rod for kids that I could use, while he used the big heavy one he had always used. We would then grab the rods, a couple of stools, and a small bucket, and then walk, hand-in-hand, for what seemed like miles, to the local pond.
It was a special spot between the reeds where he had come the night before to toss some breadcrumbs into the water to attract the fish in the morning. We would then sit for what also seemed like hours, very quietly, just fishing by the side of the water. It was a time of quite contemplation, but also great excitement as the bobbers bobbed up and down.
We didn’t always catch much, but when we did, it was the pinnacle of the morning. There was commotion and movement as my Opa helped me pull a fish out of the water. Consequently, it was also a moment when I was allowed to say a few words, a happy respite from the long wait. Then when it was all done and my Opa had put the fish in our bucket, it was back to the quiet watching and sitting…
Those were some of the best memories I can remember of my childhood. Fishing with Opa was a special time that every one of my older cousins had enjoyed as well. Even my uncles did it, and my oldest uncle, Uncle Jan, loved it as much as any one of us. By the time he was married and had his own children, he was a fishing enthusiast. He even lived right off a lake, owned a boat, and had many fancy fishing rods. He was a pro, you might say.
Now my Opa’s fishing rod was from before the war. It was old. It had been repaired many times; it was even broken in half once …and repaired. It wasn’t nice or flashy, either, just a dull brown with slightly rusted parts here and there. It was also heavy and the spool was just barely functional (also having been repaired many times).
The Upgrade!
On my Opa’s 76th birthday, and with much fanfare, my uncle Jan gifted his father a brand-new fishing rod. It was shiny, strong but light, and beautiful to behold. Everything worked, including the large spool with gold-tone wire in it. We were all in awe, and a bit envious, too. What a kingly gift. My Opa was also in awe. It was so beautiful and perfect he dared not use it at all.
And that is exactly what happened. That awesome beautiful rod went into the shed, stood right next to the old brown rod ready for use, but it never left the shed. My Opa, the most humble, kind, thoughtful, and deeply protestant man I knew, never used his new fishing rod. After all, the old rod still worked. Why not use that one for now, at least until it breaks again? It was just the practical thing to do.
So, for the next few years my Opa and I continued fishing every summer, me with my little rod and he with his old, trusty, heavy, brown rod. The beautiful new rod remained standing there in the shed all those years, never dipping a line in the water. As my Opa grew older, as I grew older, and all the other cousins also outgrew their fishing right-of-passage with Opa, he too stopped going to the pond to fish. He had grown too old and tired to fish and eventually too old and tired to walk anymore. Eventually he passed on as well.
Other than the time I’ve spent with my late father was he was growing old too, there is little I miss more than those special early morning fishing with my Opa. I never found out what happened to that beautiful fishing rod in the shed. I believe it passed onto my Uncle Jan who now has also passed. I’m guessing his eldest son has it sitting in his shed, but I really hope that he has used it. It was such a beautiful fishing rod and it would be a shame if it was never used by anyone in our family.
It’s Not Just About a Fishing Rod!
So why am I sharing the story of a fishing rod on a blog about small business ownership? Well because we all have our own fishing rod sitting around and not being used. Admit it, we all have something we received or that we bought for ourselves that is just sitting there that is better than what we are currently using.
I know I have a Mobile Fidelity Ultradeck record player that I never pulled out of the shipping box because I still have a perfectly good one on my stereo rack – maybe I’m more like my Opa that I’d like to admit. Maybe you have that special bottle of 15-yr Macallan Double Cask sitting in the cupboard? Or perhaps you received a Massage Envy gift card that is still adding girth to your wallet needlessly (and contributing to your bad posture). Perhaps you have a red 1970 Chevy Camaro that you spent years restoring that is now being forgotten under a cover in the garage.
So maybe this weekend is the time to invite some good friends over take them for a drive down the strip in that beautiful Camaro, then come back to listen to some old school records and crack open that bottle of scotch. Then, the next morning you can go enjoy that full-body massage your aching back has been begging for. YOLO.
This sentiment doesn’t just apply to your personal life either. It can also apply to your business. Perhaps it’s time to toss those old manilla folders with the worn tabs and rip the plastic off the new box of brightly colored ones with the reinforced tabs. Or maybe it’s time to replace that dingy keyboard with the missing J key and the wobbly space bar. While you’re at it, replace that sticky mouse with the coffee stain, too.
Likewise, are you still running an old version of Quickbooks on your computers? If so, take a few minutes to upgrade it. You’ve probably paid for the software already, so there’s no reason not to. Personally, I know I need to set up my shiny new firewall. It is still sitting patiently in a sealed little box, right on top of the energy-hog firewall server computer it will replace.
It’s About Time!
Why we never get to these important upgrades in our lives is perhaps a topic for a future blog. For now, take some time to look around and see it there are things in your life and in your business that you should probably replace, upgrade, or renew. As a bonus, that thing you renew, if it is still in decent condition, can perhaps be re-used by someone else. I know that old firewall server can become a perfectly fine computer for someone who needs it – heck, it has 96Gb of RAM!
The reason you need to do this is because the real tragedy is if you never get around to it. I know that my grandfather would have enjoyed that new fishing rod. I also know that my uncle Jan would really have loved to go fishing with his father using that rod too. Those are moments they will never have.
So, don’t wait for the proverbial rod to break, because that time may never come. Time is something we can never get back. This is of course true for the things around us, but it is especially important to the family and good friends that we can enjoy those things with.
This is just as true for your business. Your employees (or your family, if they work for you), would really appreciate new keyboards and mice. It’s such an inexpensive upgrade, but those cheap ones that come bundled with computers these days just aren’t made for business use. Oh, and having the latest version of Quicken on their computers won’t just put a smile on their faces, it will also improve productivity and probably address a few irritating bugs too.
