Affirmations, The Carpenter, Sandcastles

> -- Self Love
>
> * I love myself unconditionally.
> * I share my love with those around me.
> * I now find it easy to relax.
> * I love to spend quite time by myself.
> * Good things are coming to me easily and effortlessly.
> * My heart is overflying with love.
> * I love life.
> * My mind is at peace.
> * I embrace every day of this wonderful life.
> * I live with joy in my heart.


> 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.
>
> -- Author Unknown


> "I never could have done what I have done without the habits of
> punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to
> concentrate myself on one subject at a time."
>
> -- Charles Dickens
>
>
> "I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we
> stand, as in what direction we are moving - we must sail
> sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it - but we must
> sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor."



> Hot sun. Salty air. Rhythmic waves.
>
> A little boy is on his knees scooping and packing the sand with
> plastic shovels into a bright blue bucket. Then he upends the
> bucket on the surface and lifts it. And, to the delight of the
> little architect, a castle tower is created.
>
> All afternoon he will work. Spooning out the moat. Packing the
> walls. Bottle tops will be sentries. Popsicle sticks will be
> bridges. A sandcastle will be built.
>
> Big city. Busy streets. Rumbling traffic.
>
> A man is in his office. At his desk he shuffles papers into
> stacks and delegates assignments. He cradles the phone on his
> shoulder and punches the keyboard with his fingers. Numbers are
> juggled and contracts are signed and much to the delight of the
> man, a profit is made.
>
> All his life he will work. Formulating the plans. Forecasting the
> future. Annuities will be sentries. Capital gains will be
> bridges. An empire will be built.
>
> Two builders of two castles. They have much in common. They shape
> granules into grandeurs. They see nothing and make something.
> They are diligent and determined. And for both the tide will rise
> and the end will come.
>
> Yet that is where the similarities cease. For the boy sees the
> end while the man ignores it. Watch the boy as the dusk
> approaches.
>
> As the waves near, the wise child jumps to his feet and begins to
> clap. There is no sorrow. No fear. No regret. He knew this would
> happen. He is not surprised. And when the great breaker crashes
> into his castle and his masterpiece is sucked into the sea, he
> smiles. He smiles, picks up his tools, takes his father's hand,
> and goes home.
>
> The grownup, however, is not so wise. As the wave of years
> collapses on his castle he is terrified. He hovers over the sandy
> monument to protect it. He blocks the waves from the walls he has
> made. Salt-water soaked and shivering he snarls at the incoming
> tide.
>
> "It's my castle," he defies.
>
> The ocean need not respond. Both know to whom the sand belongs...
>
>
> I don't know much about sandcastles. But children do. Watch them
> and learn. Go ahead and build, but build with a child's heart.
> When the sun sets and the tides take - applaud. Salute the
> process of life and go home.
>
> -- Author Unknown