This morning I was bringing my daughter back to Boston and we were having a discussion about life choices. We were talking about the difference between people who just go to a job everyday that they hate, just to earn money to live and people who have found their passion, turned it into a career, and have a life plan. I told her this discussion reminded me of a story that crossed my mailbox just that morning. Here is the story:
“There’s an old story about a man who walks by a construction site
and sees workmen pushing wheelbarrows, each filled with an enormous
stone.
He asks one what they’re doing.
“What does it look like?” he says with a sneer. “Hauling rocks.”
Unsatisfied with that answer, the passerby asks another
construction worker the same question.
The workman doesn’t bother looking up. “We’re putting up a wall.”
Frustrated, the man tries one last time. “I say there,” he asks the
next fellow, “can you tell me what you men are doing here?”
The workman puts down his wheelbarrow, wipes his forehead and says
with a broad smile, “We’re building a cathedral.”
Here are three men, all doing the same job. One is hauling rocks.
One is putting up a wall. One is building a cathedral.”
This story illustrates the different ways we think about our lives. Our attitude and perspective can determine our path. When we’re working to put food on the table, we’re hauling rocks. When we’re at work just going through the motions to get done what needs to be done, we’re building walls. When we’re doing our job passionately to further help others have a better life or get a job done, we’re building a cathedral. While building a cathedral, the rocks are also getting hauled, and the walls are also getting built, but you are committed to excellence and to being the best you can be, no matter what you’re doing. Did you note how the last man smiled as be wiped his brow?
You can’t reach your full potential or live life to the fullest if you spend your time making excuses, having low standards, and doing just enough to get by. If you accept mediocrity, you will always be hauling rocks and building walls, while the people who focus on excellence in everything they do, build cathedrals. It takes some people longer than others to find their passion and make a life plan, but once they do, there’s no stopping the building of a cathedral.
What about you? What are you doing? Hauling rocks? Building a wall? Or building a cathedral? If your not quite building a cathedral, take a step back and review your perspective on what it is you do each day. Do you accept mediocrity or do you strive for excellence in everything you do? If you find yourself accepting mediocrity in yourself and in those around you, it’s never too late to change your attitude and focus on excellence. Empower yourself, gain direction, comfort, peace of mind and hope just by focusing on excellence in all you do. Change your thoughts and attitude, change your life. Watch a cathedral emerge.
And so, as another day goes by, requiring excellence in everything I do ignited passions I didn’t know I possessed, and…I have written.
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