The Carpenter

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 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 today is the result of your

attitudes and choices in the past.

Your life tomorrow will be

the result of your attitudes

and the choices you make today.

Unknown

The Fence

There was a little boy with a bad temper.

His father gave him a bag of nails

and told him that every time
he lost his temper,

to hammer a nail in the back fence.

The first day the boy had driven
37 nails into the fence.

Then it gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his

temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy

didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father

suggested that the boy now pull out one

nail for each day that he was able to
hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was
finally able

to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand

and led him to the fence.

He said,"You have done well, my son,

but look at the holes in the fence.

The fence will never be the same.

When you say things in anger,

they leave a scar just like this one.

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.

It won't matter how many times
you say I'm sorry,

the wound is still there.

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed.

They make you smile
and encourage you to succeed.

They lend an ear,
they share a word of praise,

and they always want to open
their hearts to us.

Author Unknown.

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