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.
一位老木匠打算退休了。他向自己所在的建筑公司雇主請(qǐng)辭，表示想要和自己的老伴以及大家庭去過(guò)一種更加閑適的生活。他會(huì)想念領(lǐng)薪水的日子，但他還是該退休了，他想日子總是能過(guò)下去的。

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 usedinferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
老板很舍不得自己的好員工離開(kāi)，他對(duì)木匠說(shuō)請(qǐng)你再建最后一座房子吧，就算是幫我個(gè)忙。木匠答應(yīng)了，但很快就明顯可以看出他的心已經(jīng)不在工作上了。他用拙劣的技巧和劣質(zhì)的材料建這座房子，用這種狀態(tài)來(lái)結(jié)束他的職業(yè)生涯其實(shí)是一種遺憾。

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."
木匠完成了他的工作，負(fù)責(zé)人來(lái)驗(yàn)收房屋，老板將這座房屋的前門(mén)鑰匙遞到了木匠手上，說(shuō)：“這房子現(xiàn)在歸你了，作為我給你的禮物。”

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.
木匠頓時(shí)感到很震驚。多可惜啊！如果他知道是在為自己修建這所房子的話(huà)，他會(huì)完全以另一種態(tài)度來(lái)對(duì)待。而現(xiàn)在他不得不住在這座自己胡亂修建的房子里了。

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, we would have done it differently.[/en
這個(gè)故事也映射了我們的生活狀況。我們并沒(méi)有用心經(jīng)營(yíng)自己的生活，總是抱怨而缺少實(shí)際行動(dòng)，并沒(méi)有全力以赴做到最好。最重要的一點(diǎn)是，我們沒(méi)有為自己的工作付出百分之百的努力。然后，當(dāng)我們回過(guò)頭看為自己創(chuàng)造的生活條件時(shí)我們震驚了，和木匠一樣我們后悔了，要是知道我們是在為自己的生活打拼，我們可能就會(huì)用一種完全不同的態(tài)度來(lái)對(duì)待了。

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 withdignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project."

想象一下你就是這個(gè)木匠，想象你正在建造這座房子，你每天釘進(jìn)一顆釘子、安裝一塊板子或者筑起一面墻。請(qǐng)用心對(duì)待吧，這是唯一一個(gè)你為自己打造的生活。即使你只在里面住上一天，這一天也要活得有光彩、有尊嚴(yán)。正如格言所說(shuō)，“生活是一個(gè)只有靠自己才能完成的項(xiàng)目。”

Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
誰(shuí)還能說(shuō)的再清楚些呢？你今天的生活就是你自己過(guò)去的態(tài)度和選擇的結(jié)果，你未來(lái)的生活就是你現(xiàn)在的態(tài)度和選擇的結(jié)果。