A Lesson Learned From a Codfish and Catfish Story

Many years ago, fishing for codfish in the Northeast had become a lucrative commercial business. The fishing industry recognized that a great market for codfish existed all over America, but they had a major problem in the distribution. At first, they simply froze the fish as they did all other products, and shipped it out across the country. But for some reason, after the codfish was frozen, it lost its taste. So the owners decided to ship the fish in huge tanks filled with fresh seawater. They thought for sure that would solve the problem and keep the fish fresh. But to their dismay, this process only make matters worse. Because the fish were inactive in the tank, they became soft and mushy, and once again they lost their taste.
One day, somebody decided to put some catfish in the tank with the codfish. Catfish are a natural enemy of codfish, so as the tank traveled across the country, the codfish had to stay alert and active, and be on the lookout for the catfish. Amazingly, when the tank arrived at the destination, the codfish were as fresh and tasty as they were in the Northeast.

Just as with the codfish, adversity may be serving a great purpose in our lives.


Note: This story taken from Be Your Best Life Now Journal by Joel Osteen

Have Haste Without Being In A Hurry

We are in too much of a hurry. We want what we want, and we want it right now. Fast food restaurants, FAX machines, and over night delivery are just three perfect examples of things that were instituted to meet this demand. Yet, everything that is great in life is a product of slow growth. Nature itself never hurries. It takes decades for an acorn to become an oak tree.

The undesirable fruits of hurry are impatience, fret, worry, and confusion. It uses up unfocused energy as a substitute for a clearly defined plan.

Hurry is a counterfeit of haste. Haste has an ideal, distinct aim that uses the most efficient and best methods to get there. It's course is determined with one compass to give direction. Hurry, on the other hand, is guided by all kinds of different compasses hoping that at least one will get to some kind of desired destination.


Resource: These thoughts were based on thoughts by William George Jordan in the book The Majesty of Calmness.