Bricks Not Sticks

We’ve all heard of the story of the Three Little Pigs. The first two pigs quickly built homes in order to have more free time to play. One used straw, while the other used sticks. But the third pig labored in the construction of his house of bricks. When the wolf came by, the first two pigs’ homes weren’t able to withstand his huffing and puffing. The third pig’s home, however, was able to stand strong when the wolf tried to blow his house down.

This story that’s been told throughout generations teaches a valuable lesson about the importance of preparation, hard work, and patience. The first two pigs represent those who take shortcuts and don’t put in the effort required to achieve success. They are the one’s that always want to find the easy way out of doing things. They are the ones who put in some effort but never enough. They are the ones that get impatient during the process of building.

The third pig represents someone who is patient and puts in the hard work necessary to achieve success. He built his house out of bricks, which took longer and required more effort. He was patient and did not take any shortcuts. He knew that what he was building would last in the face of adversity.

The thing with laying a house of bricks is that you have to be patient while laying that house. How are you preparing for when bad things are destined to occur? Adversity is going to hit. When it hits, you’re going to want to have a house of bricks over a house of sticks.

It’s not going to be easy to stay consistent in the build. So many of us desire the outcome quickly. We aren’t willing to labor for months or even years to build something worth building. We desire success more than we desire the daily grind of laying bricks. That’s why we lay sticks.

When we are going through the process of building, we have to ask ourselves: “What materials am I going to use?” Are you going to use sticks, which are easier to lay, but crumble more easily in adversity? Or are you going to lay bricks, which take more effort and precision to lay, but last through adversity?

Coach T