A carpenter with years of experience, was ready to retire. He communicated his contractor about his plans to leave the house building business to live a more leisurely retired life with his wife and family. The contractor felt a little upset that his good and experienced carpenter was leaving the job, but he requested the carpenter to build just one more house for him.
The carpenter agreed with contractor but his heart was not in his work like it used to be. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials for building the last house of his career. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter completed the house and the employer came to inspect the house.
He looked around the house and just before he exited the house he handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.” This was a huge surprise to the carpenter. Although it was supposed to be a good surprise, he wasn’t feeling good as he felt a deep shame inside him. 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 that wasn’t built that well.
Moral: Like the carpenter, we build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up with less rather than the best. Give your best. Your attitudes and the choices you make today will be your life tomorrow, build it wisely