The carpenter’s house
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer 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 employer 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 employer came to inspect the house and 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, we would have done it differently.
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could say it more clearly? Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
木匠的房子
一位年邁的木匠準(zhǔn)備退休了。他告訴他的老板他準(zhǔn)備離開(kāi)建筑業(yè)的打算，他說(shuō)他想和他的妻子過(guò)一種更休閑的生活，享受天倫之樂(lè)。他還說(shuō)他會(huì)懷念這里的薪水的，但他必須退休了，他的離職他們慢慢就會(huì)適應(yīng)的。
老板對(duì)他的這位優(yōu)秀員工的離去感到非常遺憾，于是問(wèn)他是否可以蓋最后一棟房子作為私下里的幫忙。這位木匠答應(yīng)了，但顯而易見(jiàn)他做事的時(shí)候是心不在焉的，他的手工做得毛毛糙糙，用的材料也是次品。
這樣結(jié)束他的事業(yè)是不幸的，當(dāng)木匠最后完工，老板來(lái)看房子時(shí)，他把前門(mén)的鑰匙交給木匠說(shuō)，“這是你的房子，是我送給你的禮物。”
震驚！羞愧！如果他早知道他是在蓋自己的房子，他肯定會(huì)做得截然不同的，現(xiàn)在他不得不住在自己建的糟糕透頂?shù)姆孔永锩妗?br />
這個(gè)道理同樣適合我們，在營(yíng)造生活時(shí)，我們的精力被分散到太多的地方，我們只是被動(dòng)地適應(yīng)而不會(huì)主動(dòng)行動(dòng)，而我們自己也不愿意去盡心盡力地營(yíng)造我們的生活。在重要的時(shí)刻我們也沒(méi)能盡自己最大的努力做好工作。然后我們吃驚地看到自己所做的一切：發(fā)現(xiàn)自己就處在自己營(yíng)建的房子里。如果我們?cè)缫庾R(shí)到這一點(diǎn)的話，我們的做法就會(huì)完全不同。
“生活正如一項(xiàng)為自己打造的工程。”還有什么比這更清楚的呢？明日的生活，孕育于你今天的態(tài)度和抉擇之上。
