Big Fish, Small Fish

Ever use the phrase, "Big fish small pond; small fish big ocean"?  If you have think about how you used it.  Were you talking or thinking about yourself and you place in society?  Or someone else?  Maybe no one.  A large number of people use the phrase to describe perceived positions in communities.  I say perceived for really, we have no position...we are actually all equal....Truly, the only reason we think others are above or below us is due to our allowing this type of caste system to exist.  I know, I'm crazy.  No one is equal.  Yes, we are, the one equalizer is death.  Another, we all have the same skeleton structure.  Oh yeah, we are all born human!  We all are little itty bitty babies who need help from parents, family members, and the community to survive.  See, equal.  However, there is another way of looking at the phrases too.

Big fish small pond.  How about small fish small pond?  Think about being a big fish in a small pond.  You know ponds aren't all that big.  What happens when the big fish runs out of food?  Uh oh.  A major problem.  So lets go back to the analogy of the pond being a community.  I'm from a small farming community.  I loved it.  I learned and fostered my values, morals, thoughts, and attitudes from it.  Then something happened.  I felt like a small fish in this small pond, but I wanted to leave, to explore, to grow and expand.  The big ocean beckoned.  I swam to it wholeheartedly.  I love the ocean.  It calms me and has opened my mind and eyes to see new ideas and fascinating sights.  Yes, the big ocean is my love.  I will always care for the small pond for it prepared me for the journey to the sea, where the world is open to all sorts of possibilities and wonders.

Now the small pond, a lot of people love it.  I'm glad they do.  It is the backbone of this country and for all countries.  The small ponds are filled with all sorts of people who value traditions, enjoy the outdoors lifestyle, or the peacefulness of the country.  This too is wonderful.  The forests, animals, hills, mountains, and pathways fill one's mind with the contentedness of beauty and openness.  The ability to lose one's self in the glory of nature is the same as finding one's self in the big ocean.  The salmon go to the ocean to grow and mature, then return to the small ponds and streams to mate and in the end, die. the great equalizer.

Yes, Big fish, small fish, small pond, big pond  it's all about where our hearts are.  No matter where we are all equal. Me, I'm a fish in the ocean, loving every moment of it.  How about you?  Small pond or big ocean?  Enjoy which ever one you are in or flow in to the one you want.  Just enjoy life, and stop worrying about the big fish or small fish for we are all the same.