Susan Biali

By Susan Biali, M.D.

Three years ago, I stumbled across the same parable, in three different books, all in the same week.  It hit me pretty hard the first time I read it, but after three times I figured that God was trying very hard to tell me something. It goes something like this:

    A wealthy businessman took a vacation to a beautiful tropical island.  Once there, he lounged on the white sandy beach and, every morning, watched the same fisherman haul his catch out of the turquoise waters.  

When you wake up in the morning, how do you feel?  Do you look forward to your day?  Are you glad to be alive? 

Or, do you feel your days have a life of their own, dragging you along as an unwilling but trapped participant?  It’s the price we pay for our “modern” lives, to keep up with our neighbors, buy all the latest stuff, and do what society expects us to do.

Do you have time to do anything you really enjoy?  Do you spend enough time with friends or family, and, even more importantly, yourself?   (As I write I can hear you laughing at that last one. Time with “yourself”?  I’ve got to be kidding, right?)

How about when you go to bed at night?  How do you usually feel about how you spent your day?  Do you put off going to bed, because sleeping means having to wake up the next morning?