Life is a do-it-yourself project

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." Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

Step Up or Stay Down

A mule once fell into the well. The farmer who owned the mule heard the mule 'braying' -- or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer felt sorry for the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened and asked them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back: he should shake it off and step up! This is what the old mule did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself.

No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up! You guessed it! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well!

Sometimes in life too, we need to “step up” and move on. In the story above what seemed like it would bury the mule, actually ended up in a blessing for him. All because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

Do we remain calm in the stormy situations of our life or do we panic and let the events take better of us. If we can do what the mule did, just step up and make that conscious effort every time the dirt hits our back, we will always emerge triumphant in every situation of our life.

This Is Good

An old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"



One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.



About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.



As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."



"No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean,'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

Father's Unique Training Method.

There was once a hard-working and generous farmer who had several idle and greedy sons. On his death bed he told them that they would find his treasure if they were to dig in a certain field. As soon as the old man was dead, the sons hurried to the fields, which they dug up from one end to another, and with increasing desperation and concentration when they did not find the gold in the place indicated.

But they found no gold at all. Realizing that in his generosity their father must have given his gold away during his lifetime, they abandoned their search. Finally, it occurred to them that, since the land had been prepared they might as well now sow a crop. They planted wheat, which produced an abundant yield. They sold this crop and prospered that year.

After the harvest was in, the sons thought again about the bare possibility that they might have missed the buried gold, so they again dug up the fields, with the same result. After several years they became accustomed to labor, and to the cycle of the seasons, something which they had not understood before.

Now they understood the reason for their father's method of training them, and they became honest and contented farmers. Ultimately, they found themselves possessed of sufficient wealth and no longer to wonder about the hidden hoard.

Soar Up And Live Like an Eagle

Eagle is an amazing bird. If you have noticed an Eagle, it always flies at a very high altitude in comparison to other birds. They also fly either alone and or along with other Eagles but never with other small birds. Eagles have a very strong and sharp vision, their ability to focus on something up to 6 kilometers away is powerfully used when an Eagle sites his prey. The Eagle then narrows his entire focus on it and sets out to get it at any cost. It will never move or divert its focus from the prey and it will surmount any difficulty or obstacle, in order to achieve its goal – that is, to grab the prey.

As we look at our lives and our careers, we need to ask ourselves ,do we in the first place have a purpose, a plan, a goal or a vision, be it personal or professional? Just like the Eagle who focuses its vision on the prey and goes about getting it , do we remain focused no matter what obstacles or hurdles come our way. If we remain focused on our Vision ,we are sure to succeed in achieving our Goal.

Yet again, Eagles love the storm, when the clouds gather the Eagles get very excited. In fact , the Eagle uses the storm’s wind to lift it higher; once it finds the wing of the storm the Eagle uses the raging storm to rise higher above the clouds. This gives the Eagle an opportunity to glide and then rest its wings. In the meantime, all the other birds hide away in the leaves and branches of the trees.

Our lives will never be free of any storms and difficulties, but the point is, do we use the storms that come in our personal and professional lives to rise to greater heights or do we get bogged down and allow the storm to get higher than us. There’s an English song that goes on as “ when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Achievers relish challenges and use them to their advantage. As an Achiever, do you welcome the storm, may be a sudden change in your personal plans or on the professional front it could be the stiff and new competition from the others in the field, do we use that very storm to send all the small and big players back into their very Cocoon.

Finally, when we look at the nest of an Eagle, it is always made up of twigs, then the thorns and on the top of it all - the soft grass. The Eagle goes on to add its own feathers to the soft grass that is on the top. The young one of an Eagle is thought how to fly from this very nest. The Eaglet is first thrown outside the nest by the mother Eagle, being scared the Eaglet jumps back into the nest, the Eagle then takes off the soft layers of the nest leaving the thorns bare; when the scared Eaglet jumps again into the nest, it is pricked by the thorns, this goes on until the Eaglet learns how to fly with the help of the Mother Eagle.

In life, we will be pricked by thorns, telling us that sometimes being too comfortable and seeking security where we are, may result into our not experiencing life, not progressing, and not learning at all. The thorns of life come to teach us that we need to grow, to get out of our comfort zone and experience the world outside and the challenges it has to offer to us. So go on Soar Up and Live like an Eagle!

We Are Blessed so that We can be A Blessing to others.

A young boy who was very fond of Masala Dosa entered an Udipi Restaurant in suburban Mumbai and sat at a table. When the waiter, a young boy poorly dressed lad, placed a glass of water in front of him, the boy asked: “ How much does a Masala Dosa cost?” “Twenty Five rupees” said the waiter. The boy pulled out some coins from his pocket and carefully counted them. Then he asked, “ How much does a Sada Dosa cost?” “Fifteen rupees” said the waiter abruptly, who was now getting irritated. The boy once again counted his coins and said he would have the Sada Dosa. The waiter brought him his order and placed it in front of the boy.

After the boy had finished eating the Sada Dosa,he paid up the bill at the counter and left. The waiter came to clear the table and suddenly noticed some coins left as a ‘tip’ in the plate that contained the bill.On counting the loose coins he found the ‘tip’ to be ten rupees. The waiter just couldn’t believe that the boy who was haggling for the price of Masala Dosa ate the Sada Dosa instead, only because he wanted to give the remaining money to him as a ‘tip’.

Very often we are under the impression that Generosity is limited to a certain type and category of people. There are many people who are generous and concerned about others and that include the middle and poor class of people.

The boy mentioned above must have recognized the economic condition of the poor waiter boy by the way he was poorly dressed.He himself was not ‘well to do’ as is evident from the coins he had collected for his Masala Dosa, but that did not hinder him from sharing his meagre collection of coins he had by denying himself the Masala Dosa which he loved to eat every time.

God has blessed each one of us with the power of generosity. Let us be conscious of this great gift and make use of it at every opportunity that comes our way.

We are blessed by God so that we can be a blessing to others!

Leadership is Influence

Leadership. It’s all about influence. Without influence, effective leadership does not exist, yet too many people in positions of responsibility rely solely on their official title, assuming they have influence on their direct reports.

They may have less influence than they know. Influence comes from more than just a title. While position carries some influence, true influence happens with a heart connection. Did you know that influence can be effortless? When we live a life of authenticity and integrity with humility, vulnerability and a servant’s heart, people will be compelled to follow.

A true leader needs no title or position. Leaders influence with their lives.

As I sit here in the unusual quiet of a local coffee shop, I can’t help but think about a dear friend’s influence in my life. We are still friends with a deep understanding and respect for each other. We didn’t work for the same company, in fact he was not even from the Corporate sector, but yes, we shared a passion for a common cause – making others happy! I’m surrounded by and forever changed by his influence and I don’t even know how it happened.

Because of his influence, I’m now into mentoring, counseling, working on different assignments which involve motivating people through my talks and workshops. All these years ( almost 8 years) it’s been so satisfying just to see people smile. In other words, just helping people discover their true Identity and making them understand that they are worthwhile no matter what their status or their official title may be.

Competent, caring leaders with influence have the potential to change the world by just doing what they do, being who they are. They don’t need titles or position. Who do you need to be so you can be a person of influence?

Were you influenced too? I’m sure you were. Want to share?