RETURN GIFT

A carpenter, who built timber houses, told his employer of his desire to retire. The contractor was sorry to see a good workman go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter said yes, but it was obvious that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy work and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When he went to hand over the keys, his colleagues arranged for a small function. His boss recounted the carpenters’ commitment to his craft and announced an appropriate farewell gift to the carpenter. "You have built the finest of homes and you deserve one of the same," saying so he handed back the key of the latest house built by the carpenter.

Imagine the predicament! 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 mediocre home that he himself had built so poorly. Ditto for us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to give lesser than our best effort to the task at hand. Then with a shock we look at the predicament that we ourselves have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that our efforts were going to return to us as gifts, we would have done it differently.

We need to think of ourselves as the carpenter. Each time we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall, we must give nothing but the best. It is said so well that "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Our life today is the result of our attitudes and choices in the past. Our life tomorrow will be the result of our attitudes and the choices we make today.

Never ever retire from wanting to BE BETTER
Things we do return as gifts… sooner or later!

- Pravin K. Sabnis