For the most satisfying flavor,
the fruits of your labor best be the
labor itself.
Build a patio
with your own two hands
and enjoy every minute of it.
Think only of the labor itself.
As you mortar each piece of tile
to the cement base,
enjoy the pattern you are making.
Rub each cold hard tile as you set it
and give your hands a tactile treat.
Enjoy washing the white mortar dust
off the surface and
watch as the deep red color
escapes its clouded prison.
Smooth the grout
and observe with pleasure
the emerging finished floor.
One more careful cleaning
to achieve a polished
finished project
and lean back with satisfaction.
To have built this patio
with a only a vision
that anticipated sitting in a deck chair
on the tile deck
would rob one
of the pleasure of the task.
Without a dream of the future pleasure
of sitting on the patio,
it would not have been built.
For dreams are on the other side of reality,
and often one can't cross that barrier.
Such disappointment
may hinder future patio building.
So see effort as one
of our most basic needs.
And let the labor be the sweet fruit
and if a dream materializes,
consider it a double gift
.