An old builder of houses informed the owner of the company where he was employed that he wanted to retire and spend more time with his family.

He would miss the salary, he told the owner, but he really wanted to retire. The builder reasoned with himself that the company would not miss an employee that much! The owner was sad to see a good employee go, and kindly requested the builder to build one more house as a favor to the company, and afterwards, he would be free to retire. The builder was not enthusiastic at all about this request and it could easily be seen, but he finally agreed to it.

He began building the house in a shoddy way, using materials of poor quality and, trying to finish as quickly as possible this unwanted project. His mind was somewhere else, and “let’s get it over with” was his motto during the construction. Finally he completed the work and the owner of the company came to inspect the job done. After the inspection, he approached the builder, and gently gave him the key of the house.

“This is now your house! This is a gift from our company to you for all these years of service!” The builder was shocked and speechless. . . . What a pity! If he only would have known that beforehand, he would have done things so differently. . . . He was really a surprised man!

The same happens in our life. . . . We build our life, one day at a time, and often we don’t put forth the best effort to build it. Afterwards, we are surprised when we discover that we must live in the house we have built. If we could only do things over, how careful we would be! But we cannot go back.

You are the builder. All day long you use nails, hammers, and wood as you build the walls. There is a saying that goes, “Life is a project that you build yourself.” Your attitudes, your choices today are the materials you are using in building the “house” you will live in tomorrow.

Build wisely!