The House We Build

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The House We Build

Source:http://www.ramakrishnamath.com

 

 

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-

contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and

live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended

family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They

could get by.

 

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he

could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter

said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in

his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior

materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

 

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect

the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter:

 

" This is your house, " he said, " my gift to you. "

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his

own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to

live in the home he had built none too well.

 

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting

rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At

important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a

shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are

now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that we

would have done it differently.

 

Think of our self as the carpenter. Think about our house. Each day

we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It

is the only life we will ever build. Even if we live for only one

day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity.

We built our life today. It is the result of our attitudes and the

choices we have made in the past.

 

We can build the life we want. It will be the exact result of our

attitudes and the choices we make today and tomorrow.

 

Gokulmuthu Narayanaswamy <gokulmuthu