Our lives today are the result of the attitudes and choices we made in the past and our karma-s/actions to implement them.

Our lives in the future will be the result of the choices we make today and our present karma-s.

This is the story of an elderly carpenter who has worked for a contractor for the past 43 years. He had built many beautiful houses, but now as he was getting old, he wanted to retire and lead a leisurely life with his family. So, he goes to the contractor and tells him about his plan to retire. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor feels sad at the prospect of losing a good worker but agrees to the plan because the carpenter has indeed become too fragile for the tough building work. But as a last request, he asks the old carpenter if he could build just one more house as a personal favor.

The old man agrees and starts working, but his heart is not in his work anymore. He had lost motivation towards work. So, he resorted to shoddy workmanship and constructed the house half-heartedly. 

It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

After the house was built, his employer came to visit his employee’s last piece of work. After inspecting the house, he handed over the front door keys to the carpenter and said, “This is your new house — my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked and upset. Had he known that he was building his own house, he would have done a better job! Now, he would have to live in the house, which is not worth living in.

So, it is with us. We should think of ourselves as carpenters. We work hard every day but are we giving our best? We build our lives a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. We put our least effort into the work we don’t like or do not have an interest in, but without choice, we have to do it. Later, we get shocked at the situation we have created for ourselves and try to figure out why we didn’t do it differently. If we could do it all over again, we would do it much differently.

But we cannot go back. We are carpenters, and every day we hammer a nail, place a board or erect a wall.

Our attitude and the choices we make today help build our tomorrow. The quality and texture of the thoughts we entertain in our intellect, the quality and texture of emotions and feelings we entertain in our minds, the quality and texture of the words we express through speech, and the quality and texture of the actions we perform today determine the quality and texture of our future lives.

Actually, as per the law of karma, our attitudes, emotions, speech, and actions today and every moment are preparing a blueprint for our future birth — the type of body, sense organs, mind, intellect, and environment we will get at our next birth.

Therefore, act wisely!

Enjoy the tasks and carry on the responsibilities with pleasure and not with pain.

When we do our job enthusiastically and with devotion, the result will certainly be a positive output and a pleasing life — whether in this life or in a future birth.

“The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we think we are and what we could be in reality.”

Life isn’t qualified by the branded clothes we wear or other such things; it’s measured by the number of faces that smile when they hear our name.