The Story
Long ago, the Land of Israel was ruled by the Romans, who were cruel and barbaric rulers. The government of Rome issued an edict forbidding Jews to study and practice the Torah. 
Pappus bar Judah found R. Akiba sitting in a public place, a gathering of students surrounding him, teaching and studying Torah, in defiance of the Roman edict. This was an enormously dangerous thing to do, for the penalty for violating the Roman law was death.
Pappus bar Judah was shocked that Rabbi Akiba was taking such a risk.
In amazement, he asked, "Akiba, aren't you afraid of the Roman government?" Rabbi Akiba replied with a parable; a story to explain his actions:
Once upon a time, a fox walked alongside a river. He could see fish swimming in schools to and fro the water. It appeared to him that they were swimming as if trying to escape something or someone. The fox was very hungry and thought that a nice, fat fish would surely make a delicious lunch for a hungry fox.
The fox called out to the fish, "What are you fleeing from?"
The fish replied, "We are trying to avoid the nets that fishermen cast out to catch us."
Slyly, the fox said, "Would you like to come up on to the dry land so that you will be safe from the fishermen's nets?"
The fish were not fooled by the sly fox. They replied, "Are you the one that is known as the cleverest of all the animals? You are not clever! You are foolish. If we are in danger here in the water, which is our home, how much more would we be in danger on land!
So it is with us, Rabbi Akiba explained. If we are in great danger when we study, teach, and practice Torah, of which it is written "For that is your life and length of your days," [Deuteronomy 30:20], how much worse off we will be if we neglect the Torah!
And with that, Rabbi Akiba returned to his studies.
What This Story Means
What are those things in life that give us true nourishment? What sustains us through hardship and difficulty, infusing us with hope, energy, and meaning? How do we cultivate these means of nourishment, enabling them to take root, blossom, and flourish?
We might dream of cultivating a steady meditation or yoga practice. We know that it will do us a world of good; clear our minds, engage our bodies, and vitalize our entire being, and yet as the alarm rings in the morning, we find it impossible to forgo that extra hour of sleep. We open one eye and turn over.
We grope for the 'off' switch on the alarm, and mumble…tomorrow. An hour later, as blurry eyed we drink our coffee before leaving for work, we think of how much better it would have felt to be after an hour of centering, stretching, and greeting the new day with fresh intention.
We know what does us good and yet once again we have chosen momentary comfort over that which we know supports our long term well being. We have chosen fleeting satisfaction over that which is - as Rabbi Akiba says of the Torah - "our life and the length of our days".
This type of choice confronts us in all manner of guises. We might know that being in nature is essential to our physical, emotional and mental well being, and yet as work assignments pile up we find ourselves unable to take time off to get out of the city and breath a bit of fresh air. We choose to remain in rushing and racing mode, often without even remembering what it is we are rushing and racing for.
Sometimes it is social pressure that causes us to choose convention over "life and length of our days". All our neighbors have new cars and fancy home-cinema systems, and the idea that we must not fall behind takes over. We know there are more conducive ways to spend our money; we've been thinking about studying something we're interested in, going abroad to visit a spiritual center we love, and yes we really believe in giving to charity…and yet the sparkling apparatus flaunted by our friends has irresistible allure and out comes our credit card.
The fish choose their net infested pond over the "safety" of dry land. They know that separated from their home element - the water that gives them life, they are lost.
What Do We Really Need
What are we "lost" without? What are those things that are "life and length of our days" and what choices are we willing to make so as to maintain their existence in our lives? What are those things without which we find ourselves in danger of living a life which is superficial and meaningless, as susceptible to disaster as a fish out of water.
Rabbi Aviba risked his life to study Torah. What are we willing to risk? May we know Rabbi Aviba's clarity and devotion; may we make choices that enable our own personal "Torah'" to sustain and nourish us, infusing us with depth, truth, life, and length of days.