Friday, September 10, 2010

Dont Cut Corners


A woman making funeral arrangements for her husband requested that her husband be buried in a dark blue suit.

Wouldn't it be easier to just bury him in the black suit that he's already wearing the funeral director asked. But the woman insisted that it must be a blue suit, and gave the funeral director a blank check to buy one.

When she returned for the wake, she saw her husband in the coffin wearing a beautiful blue suit. She complimented the funeral director on his choice of outfit, and asked how much it cost. He said, Actually, it didn't cost anything. The funniest thing happened. As soon as you left, another corpse was brought in and he was wearing a blue suit. I noticed that they were about the same size, so I asked the other widow if she would mind if her husband were buried in a black suit. She said that was fine with her. So I switched the heads.

Besides supreme insensitivity, this funeral director shows us how shortcuts are in bad taste. To do our jobs properly, we must do them completely. We must learn to take pride in a job well done. If we stick to shortcuts we can never progress...

What's the problem with cutting corners? Take a piece of paper. Look at its four corners. Now cut one corner and notice what happens. You've cut away a corner but you also wind up with an extra corner to deal with.

The more corners you cut, the more work piles up. Taking shortcuts and cutting corners is not good for your character, either. You become impatient to reach the top, and are arrogant beyond reproof. This greedy rush towards success can only result in an eventual crash and burn. I've seen many people come and go. Even bright, intelligent and highly educated people begin with shortcuts. Later on, they lie, cheat and manipulate their way towards the top. They use people and do anything in order to advance their careers. They cut corners and make shortcuts. And then the crash comes.

There is no shortcut to success. Not everyone can win the grand prize in the lottery. And even if you do, it's no guarantee you won't live a miserable life. Possessing the money that you neither earned nor worked hard for can never give you meaning and fulfillment. Do your work and do it diligently.

In the Bible, God says a little earning saved through the years will amount to much. And God's Word never fails. So forget shortcuts and cutting corners. Go with the slow but sure way, and strengthen your character, which will always be more valuable than pure gold.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

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