Laying bricks is not easy
You think all you have to do is put some
Water down, put a brick on top, and make it level.
But when you put the water down,
You put the brick on top,
There's always one end that is higher than the others.
So you have to tap that end down,
That end goes down, another end goes up
So you have to tap THAT end down,
Then it moves out of line.
Then you've got to tap it into line again.
Then the first end goes up.
It takes forever to get that brick straight.
But one thing which I have, which all monks have,
Is patience.
Doesn't matter how long it takes, I'm gonna make sure,
Every brick is perfect.
So - that's what I did.
Every brick - I made sure - if it wasn't right,
I'd take it off and start again.
When I finished my first brick wall,
I looked at it,
And I was so disappointed.
I was so shocked.
I was so distressed.
I missed two bricks.
All the other ones were nice and level.
But 2 bricks with this awful angle. They spoiled the whole wall.
I tried to take them out. But the cement was just so hard.
They would not come out.
So I talked to the other monk with me
And said "can we buy some dynamite?
Can I blow up that wall and start again?"
He said "no", I wanted to destroy that wall.
Because it's - I'd - I'd made a mess of the
First building project I did at that monastery.
And I was so disappointed. And I saw it every day.
Every day I went past that wall. I was so upset
Because I saw the two bad bricks and my mistakes.
When visitors came, I always managed to take them somewhere else.
So they wouldn't see my mistakes,
Because your mistakes, you're always embarrassed about.
But one day, a visitor came,
I was with them, they saw that wall and what they said was:
"That's a beautiful wall."
And I said to them: "Are you crazy,
Are you blind? Have you left your glasses in the car?
Can't you see the two bad bricks?"
And they said: "Yes, I can see the two bad bricks.
But, I can also see the 998 good bricks, as well."
That hit me... like a brick.
I realized my mistake. Not only in that wall, but in life as well.
Just too often, all we see is our two mistakes.
And you become blind to anything else other than what is wrong.
That's what was happening to me.
Every time I passed that wall,
My eyes would just go to my faults, my mistakes.
I could not see anything other than my two mistakes.
I realized, in life,
Every time I saw a tragedy in life,
Every time I saw someone being abused or hurt,
There were 998 times, or probably much more,
When people were being kind, and caring,
And beautiful, and wonderful, and loving, and generous and inspiring.
Most people are actually pessimists.
A pessimist is someone, like myself,
And those two monks who always sees the two bad bricks in life.
The optimist is the person who only sees 998 good bricks.
The realist is one who sees both.
Yeah
INTELLECT LOADS THE GUN. BUT INSTINCT PULLS THE TRIGGER.