Build your own house

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. Therefore, Build wisely!

Contributed by

-         Sri K Prakash Rao, SM-Faculty Vijaya Bank

We never get what we want we create it

A seeker of truth was told by a very wise man to go to a nearby cave, where he would find a deep well and ask the well, what is truth.

The seeker of truth went there and asked the well. . . 'What is truth'?

From the depths of the well came an answer, 'Go to the village crossroad and there you shall find what you are seeking'.

Full of hope and anticipation, he ran to the crossroad to find only three rather uninteresting shops. One shop was selling pieces of metal, another sold wood, and thin wires were for sale in the third. Nothing and no one there seemed to have much to do with the revelation of the truth.

Disappointed, he returned to the well to demand an explanation, but he was told only, 'You will understand in the future'.

Indignant for having been made a fool of, he continued his wanderings in search of truth. As the years went by, one night, while he was walking under the glow of the moonlight, the sound of guitar music caught his attention. It was the most wonderful music and it was played with great mastery and inspiration.

Profoundly moved, the seeker of truth felt drawn towards the player. He looked at the fingers dancing over the strings. He became aware of the beauty of the guitar and the music that came from it, and then suddenly he exploded in a cry of joyous recognition - the guitar was made out of thin wires, pieces of metal and wood just like those he had once seen in the three uninteresting stores many years before and had thought it to be without any particular significance.

At last he understood the message from the well . . . 

We have already been given everything we need - our task is to assemble and use it in the appropriate way. Nothing is meaningful so long as we perceive only in separate fragments. But as soon as the fragments come together, a new entity emerges, whose nature and beauty we could not have foreseen by considering the fragments alone.

We never get what we want, we create it  !!

Contributed by

-         Smt. K Balakarthika, SM-Faculty,Vijaya Bank

No one can hurt you without your consent

On his first day in office, as President Abraham Lincoln entered to give his inaugural address, one man stood up. He was a rich aristocrat. He said, "Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family." And the whole Senate laughed; they thought they had made a fool of Lincoln.

But certain people are made of a totally different mettle. Lincoln looked at the man directly in the eye and said, "Sir, I know that my father used to make shoes for your family, and there will be many others here, because he made shoes the way nobody else can.

He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul into them. I want to ask you, have you any complaint? Because I know how to make shoes myself. If you have any complaint I can make you another pair of shoes. But as far as I know, nobody has ever complained about my father's shoes. He was a genius, a great creator and I am proud of my father".

The whole Senate was struck dumb. They could not understand what kind of man Abraham Lincoln was. He was proud because his father did his job so well that not even a single complaint had ever been heard.

Remember: "No one can hurt you without your consent. It is not what happens to us that hurts us. It is our response that hurts us"

Contributed by

- Smt. K Balakarthika, Manager-Faculty, Vijaya bank Staff College-Bangalore

Dad's blesssings

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business.  He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had   not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed   to come home immediately and take care things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.

 He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not  packaged as we expected?

Contributed by

- Sri K Prakash Rao, SM-Faculty, Vijaya bank Staff College-Bangalore.