Grip clips, November

I will share a story with you

There were two men who each purchased a large 10 acre plot of land. The two plots were directly next to each other. On the plot were trees, some small hills and open fields.

The first day the two men spoke and outlined their dreams of the land. Said the first one “I will build a house over there”

The second man shook his head “I don’t know, I don’t like that spot over there. See I was thinking you should build your house in the area on the other side”

The first man looked on to the land “no sir, I believe that is the spot”

For three months the man carried wood to the section, dug a basement, built walls, and covered the roof. The second man stopped by daily to talk.

Said the second man “You know I am not sure if I like your house right there, I still think it would go better by that tree down the way”

Said the first man “No that is where my barn will go”

And with that the man constructed his barn. Three months pass.

The second man again dropped in daily and criticized the man as he built his barn, he did not care for the color, the angle of the roof, or the placement of the windows.

The second man told grand stories of what his property would be after he begun construction, how he was waiting to “get it all right” before starting. The man with the house and barn nodded his head, agreeing it was a great idea. He told the man, this all sounds wonderful, but now I must make my pond.

The man labored for 2 months crafting the pond. He fished daily to stock it with trout and blue gill. He placed a net on it to stop the birds from picking out the fish.

Every day the second man returned, asking why the man did this, why he did that. Meanwhile the second man’s plot of land sat undeveloped. Months turned to years; one plot was transformed from a patch of field to fertile farm land which made the first man profitable and happy. The second man had given up years ago; his land was wild and untamed, impassible except for the most dedicated.

Even years later, the second man returned, to question and critique the now successful farmer. He told him how he was doing things wrong, inefficient, how many other people said there are better ways. The farmer nodded his head “I believe many people say many things, but words do not lift walls and plant crops, they do not move earth and tile soil”

The second man was struck with embarrassment and never returned.

Are you building your dreams? Or do you simply talking about them?