Happiness, to me , has always been doing what I like the most which is fishing. This is one of the little pleasures of my life which I have very little time to carry out as age goes forward but the fire to fight a good fish or for that matter any fish is still a passion of mine. I am not particularly crazy of pulling out big , monstrous or humongous fish. To me, I am satisfied just sitting at a nice fishing spot; with my cap on to shield the ray of sun and running my line in the waters. To share this moment with my two colleagues, Teo & Sathiya made it more enjoyable because Teo had been my fishing "kaki" for some time now while Sathiya is the "newcomer". So, I really wanted to "teach" as much as I can and at the same, enjoy my little hobby. 
So , off we go to the "back yard " of Sathiya's hometown for our fishing experience. I brought my modest freshwater fishing kit box, 15 baby frogs and some brown -colored works for the fishing experiment. You see, it was a new place for us and so, I bought the baits I thought would be useful for the trip.At the end of the day, it's chicken livers and heart that made the best baits ( courtesy of Teo! ) for this place. To be honest, I was hoping that we would not go back empty-handed. Even if we did, it would be worth the lesson and experience. That's how I see it when it comes with fishing. There would be good days and there would be not so nice days too.
I guess in many ways, fishing is not for everyone. It does take a lot of patience and passion. You could have all the fishing tools and equipment in the world but if you don't have the "heart " for it, you'll end up empty -handed. I guess, in many way, fishing helped me to calm down and made me think a lot about things whenever I am in a rut. This is not justification to what I do but it could easily be a form of escapism too. No matter what your reasons are, it is entirely up to you. To me, I just want to relax my mind, enjoy the scenery and enjoy the adrenaline tug of having a fish at the end of your line! So, off we cart down our equipments and settled in at a spot we like. What a contrast indeed! On one side of there sits a calm and serene pond which I will call the Mirror Pond while the other was turbulent, choppy,windy and murkier waters which I shall call Windy Pond. For some time, we fished at the Mirror Pond and Teo got the first fish of the day, one big yellowish Ikan Betuk. We clapped and cheered like mad men on the streets. One carnival like atmosphere as far as we were concerned. It was a real fun and happy site. Sathiya and I tried every trick of the book in techniques and baits but to no avail to pull any more fish out of Mirror Pond.
Then we started fishing at Windy Pond. That's where the fishing action were! Sathiya got the very first catfish and the carnival starts. There were back slapping, congratulatory hand slaps and photograph sessions. Happy Sathiya with his widest smile and grin, I tell you. The joy and the smiles on his face says it all, actually. To me, that is my reward for the day - the smile on the face of my colleagues. As we continued to pull another 7 catfish from the pond, ( we had a total of 8 catfish that day ) the spread of joy and smiles were enormously felt. It feels good to fish with friends and have such a great time. It wasn't so much for the fish but the fun of teasing one another, discuss a little bit of our lives, exchanging of ideas and speaking from our hearts made this fishing outing a real special one for all of us. For me, my greatest reward is seeing the wide smiles and joy etched on the faces of my colleagues.These simple things meant BIG to me! No amount of money, fame or position could outstrip that kind of joy, I tell you. Just plain, simple and meaningful fellowship! Sometimes, a thousand sermons would not touch a single life /heart but one simple fellowship could open endless door of opportunity! We need to reach out and touch lives with our lives first.
Later that evening as I drove my colleagues to their respective homes, we stopped by for a simple meal and talked about the ones that were lost during our fish fights. More laughter, more teasing and more fun filled the air. It was a good way to end a good evening. Now, Sathiya has the bragging rights of fishing the most fish of the day ( 4 in total - they say, it's the beginner's luck! ) and the smiles are wider each time we mentioned the champion of the day! To me, I want to thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to have a good time with my friends/colleagues and touch lives in whatever way I could. And Lord, thank you for the fishes, too! Mom would know what to do with them - either plain goreng with kunyit or sambal ikan keli , right? Eitehr way, it's yummy........... .
Then we started fishing at Windy Pond. That's where the fishing action were! Sathiya got the very first catfish and the carnival starts. There were back slapping, congratulatory hand slaps and photograph sessions. Happy Sathiya with his widest smile and grin, I tell you. The joy and the smiles on his face says it all, actually. To me, that is my reward for the day - the smile on the face of my colleagues. As we continued to pull another 7 catfish from the pond, ( we had a total of 8 catfish that day ) the spread of joy and smiles were enormously felt. It feels good to fish with friends and have such a great time. It wasn't so much for the fish but the fun of teasing one another, discuss a little bit of our lives, exchanging of ideas and speaking from our hearts made this fishing outing a real special one for all of us. For me, my greatest reward is seeing the wide smiles and joy etched on the faces of my colleagues.These simple things meant BIG to me! No amount of money, fame or position could outstrip that kind of joy, I tell you. Just plain, simple and meaningful fellowship! Sometimes, a thousand sermons would not touch a single life /heart but one simple fellowship could open endless door of opportunity! We need to reach out and touch lives with our lives first.
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