Life of a Goldfish – I was in a restaurant earlier this week and noticed a goldfish tank in the waiting area. I watched the brightly colored fish calmly float about in a perfect suspended state and it seemed very peaceful to me.

My first reaction was how carefree they must be, no predators, no need to look for food and their movements were weightless and effortless in a beautiful blue space.

My next thought was contradictory-what a sad and boring life. I imagined every few feet the invisible barrier.  I thought of surroundings that never changed except for occasional customer staring through the glass. I came to the conclusion that the safe, weightless, blissful life was instead what I would consider boring and mundane.

The fact that the fish was living in what it had always known and  lacking knowledge or need to explore softened my perspective but compelled me to compare how the human species often lives its life.

Some of us live our lives in the epitome of a fish tank. The invisible barriers of time constraints and the responsibilities that keep us floating back and forth in the same small space, we easily become the goldfish as routine becomes much like the confines of a small fish tank.

For me personally, I don’t prefer living in a fish tank and yet I shared this idea with a family member who argued for some the fish tank life is a beautiful thing. There are families that have no interest in leaving their space and for that matter to each his own but the realization of this for me made me want to jump out of the tank and find the nearest river to the sea.