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In re: "Turnabout is Fair Play" Message
Mark Dryer (DryerMS@CLF.NAVY.MIL)
Thu, 5 Nov 1998 08:29:13 -0500
I have received replies from two groups of people regarding the
referenced posting: Those who have seen it before in a collection of
similar moralistic messages, and those who said that they did not
receive the forwarded text, and who asked me to resend it.
For those of you in the second group, here it is again.
YIS,
Mark Dryer
ASM Troop 1
Tidewater Council
Norfolk, VA
-------Forwarded Message Begins------------
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
material. 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 only he had known he was building his own house, he would have done
it all differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none
to well. So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way,
reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than our 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 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. This is the only life you will ever
build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that 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 you attitudes and choices you make
today.
Author Unknown
-------End of Forwarded Message------------
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