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“I am laying the cable, a new one.” A labourer replied fervently when an acquaintance passing from there on his bicycle asked him casually what he was doing.

The man was working on a task of laying optical fibre network in my residential campus. I was observing him from my window. The man had just committed a mistake of digging out at a wrong place. His supervisor pointed out the mistake almost scolding him and then marked the line where it should have been dug up. All his efforts for about 90 minutes got wasted. What was lost was hard labour. He had just started to work on the right place this time. Yet, he came up with such a fervent reply. The man was able to visualize the final result of his work. He knew what he was doing. He wasn’t just “digging up a pit”. He was “laying the cable, a new one”.

We look at a setback as the end. When we start to accept a setback as part of the process, a larger process, we will be happier.

The incident I narrated reminds me of a story. It has always been an inspirational one for me. Even if one is not fond of stories, this one deserves to be read again and again:

A few men were busy on a construction site. A curious visitor asked one of them: “What are you doing?” The man replied: “Can’t you see? I am digging out soil.” On further questioning, the man replied: “If you want to know further, ask our supervisor. I’m so busy”.

The visitor then asked another man. His reply was “I am busy preparing the foundation for a huge structure. I need to finish this by today or I will be screwed.” After the experience with the first man, the visitor didn’t think it wise to further question this man.

The visitor, however, wasn’t satisfied. He asked yet another man. The third man replied gaily: “Thanks for taking interest mister. WE are constructing a grand temple!”

We often aren’t satisfied with our work, our family and our life because we just don’t look at the broad picture. We look at the incidents in pieces. The piecemeal approach is necessary if we want to accomplish something in an orderly manner. But, if we don’t have that “something” to accomplish or if we do not know what that “something” is and what it means to us, we lose the meaning in performing those pieces. We need a broad picture. We need to inculcate the habit of looking at the broad picture in whatever task we perform. Only then, the life will be beautiful and happy.