You’re an Architect Too!

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over 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 a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Well that’s life!

Your each action of right this second decides your future. It’s said that your future is all written. Well, that’s indeed true, but that isn’t the destiny which plays a crucial role in it, it’s your attitude, your positive perception towards life, the choices and important decisions you make writes it all. Just as the old man was making his own house without him knowing it, we many times do such crazy things without us being totally aware of it, which we may regret it once after we’ve executed it. So we’ve to be careful while taking each step in this life that leads to doorway of success. Have you ever talked to a person who firmly and adamantly believed that their future was already written and set in stone? That they had an appointed path in life that they would take, regardless of any action on their part? While some people really do believe in this nonsense, it is honestly nothing more than a cop-out. While we cannot control everything that comes across the path of our life or expect to bypass every hurdle that holds us back from success, we can choose how to respond to each of these obstacles. This is because, in reality, everyone is the architect of their own destiny. But what does this mean, exactly? Well, it really is quite simple. An architect is a person who takes a vision or a thought and turns it into a reality.

Once I saw a guy, he came crying up to a professor of mine. The professor calmly asked him the reasons behind the tears in his life. He said,
“I didn’t get the job again! Again! It was my 21^st interview and still no good has happened to me yet. Why is this happening? What’s wrong with me? My family had so much hopes with me and I’m unable to do anything! Anything! Life’s over for me now. It’s all over.”
Professor gently smiled and said
“Dear this isn’t the worst thing happened to you, in fact it is the best!”
The guy was amazed to his words on why he said it was the best thing happened to him and so curiously he asked for why did he say that.
The professor answered
“You’ve given 21 interviews till now, so now you have 21 different experiences of different companies and HR’s, you’ve understood all of theirs basic needs and requirements they needed. Assemble them all and think of what’s missing in you in all these and find that thing which is left within you. Once you do it, I’m sure you’ll pass your next interview trust me.”
These words by professor left the guy with fire in his eyes of giving it one more chance. And he did it this time. He cleared it.

That’s what life is! If he would’ve gave up and decided to let it go, probably he would’ve been living in misery now. But he chose to build something else for life and after such dejections, he pointed his own mistakes, overcame them and cleared the next time. Be your architect of life. Construct it well. Begin to design a plan that will get you from where you are to where you want to be! Sure, there will likely be some rewrites and revisions done from time to time, you may have to exchange a door for a window because of forces beyond your control, but even with these edits, the dream will still shine if you see it through. Mistakes happen and it’s alright. But you have to be very careful while building it. Be conscious. When we are used to working hard to succeed, we tend to become self-confident and dependent on ourselves. We do not need to rely on anyone else to do the job for us, because we are quite certain that we are ourselves quote capable of handling it on our own. Since we don’t give up on our dreams and work to build our future, we have no regrets, and no one needs to help us out along the way.

So begin today, by embracing your position in life and by acting like you own your destiny. Because the truth of the matter is you absolutely do! You and you alone are the only architect of your future. So dream big, design well, work hard, overcome all, and be damn proud of the end result.