Once, when I and my wife were traveling, I received a fax from my secretary.
‘When they delivered the material, there was one glass brick missing for the work on the kitchen renovation,’ she said.
‘I’m sending you the original plan as well as the plan the builder has come up with to compensate for it.’
On the one hand was the design my wife had made: harmonious lines of bricks with an opening for ventilation.
On the other hand was the plan drawn up to resolve the problem of the missing brick: a real jigsaw puzzle in which the glass squares were arranged in a higgledy-piggledy fashion that defied aesthetics.
‘Just buy another brick,’ wrote my wife. And so they did and thus stuck to the original design.
That afternoon, I thought for a long time about what had happened; how often, for the lack of one brick, we completely distort the original plan of our lives.
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Missing brick…maybe lack of self-confidence and not knowing yourself, I will try to rebuild it again, so I could find that missing pieces of me….but how? it’s already damage and broken…I can not build that again in the same original plan….only i just have to accept the fact and learn from it…their Is saying ” if its broke don’t fix it”…I have one question Mr Coelho what is aesthetics? or maybe can someone explain that to me…
My mentor only ever asks one thing of me: “What’s missing right now?”
It also occurs to me Paulo, this brick of yours makes a good hole in the wall.
;)
With love, Daniel
no solo cuando falta un ladrillo se nos distorciona la vida , tambien ocurre que por momentos se pierden los planos originales y debemos continuar por un tiempo con un plano de emergencia hasta encontrar el original y con suerte logramos encontrar ese ladrillo que tambien nos falta
Very good point !
I wonder which might be my missing brick which is (tormenting :P) my life so much ?
Now that I know that it is a brick I’ll do what I know to do best in such situations: forget about the problem, sleep over it (let the fruits of this strenuous labor grow :P heheh) and then let what I can’t get come to me. :DDD
Love :)))
Como se podria aplicar este mensage el dia de hoy. Q segun han pronosticado un terremoto en California para antes de marzo 29
life is like a ensemble of memories, people, places etc, and sometime we assume that certain person, memory or other things are so close to our heart, that they are irreplaceable and we fail to understand that its not the particular thing, person but us who make things irreplaceable. The day we accept that there is nothing ever same in this world and all we try to live life better, we will never miss the MISSING BRICK AGAIN.
beautifully said !!!
Wonderful Manish!
Pour resoudre nos problemes nous devons etre flexibles et debrouillards tant que ces problemes puissent etre resolus d une facon ou d une autre .Changer nos plans .Creer un nouveau projet .Acheter davantage etc . L important est de pouvoir arranger !!!soyons pragmatiques et pas trop exigeants .Mais dommage parfois nous sommes incapables et meme impuissants de faire quoi que ce soit et c la le desastre .pourrons nous acheter des rechanges pour un corps brise par un accident ?
Pourrons nous reacheter un etre humain ?C l irreparable qui pose a l homme le plus grand probleme .
(Cette histoire m a fait penser a ces idees et je ne sais pas si je suis hors sujet .)
Yes, is it true…
This reminds me of the principle of Occam’s razor ….(the simplest explanation is usually the right one or, don’t make things more complicated than they need to be.)
Is true, sometime we make things difficult to find a solution to our life decisions, when often needs only a simple answer.
Esta muy bueno poder contar siempre con todos los ladrillos que necesitamos, pero tambien esta muy bueno poder contar con el poder de adaptarnos a nuevos desafios si todos los ladrillos no podemos conseguir.
los proyectos fueron pensados para ser realizados, pero si no contamos con todo lo necesario, no tiene que ser que nos quedemos sin proyecto. hagamos uno nuevo
Well in our lives most of the things happen on their own.We ponder, plan and try our best to achieve them. But alas, all planning fail due to that one missing brick or link.One can try achieve their wishes through efforts but how it comes out finally is determined by many other universal factors beyond are comprehension,so leave it at that.Keep wishing.Happy living.
Just another brick in the wall! or was it, another “break”?
I agreed:)!
Original plan of life reminds me of the plan we make before we were born, probably the destiny as how it is popularly called. I feel as long as everything goes on well to comply with that original plan, there is an inner restfulness.
But when there comes a missing brick, we are given two options – change the plan or fix the brick. And there is nothing as one is better than the other. It all depends on the circumstance.
And what remains to be taken care of is our inner restfulness again. As long as the new plan can restore that without leaving a regret, any number of changes any number of times is fine. But when that goes missing, better we go back in our journeys in search of that missing brick – it will definitely be a worthy search!
Love you more and more with each of your thoughts!
I thank God for your existence!
Nandhini
the agony and excitement of negotiating with the brick I am holding, because the plan seems to change constantly…
Many times, by the lack of courage, we let others change our destiny…
Courage is what we need to continue with the original plans of our lives.
No es lo que se tiene que cambiar, sino la perspectiva con la que se puede cambiar o adaptarse a las circunstancias, he aquí el punto de vista de algo que realmente fué accidental, mil cosas pueden cambiar, pero con una perspectiva pudenen no ser mil, sino más que eso…
Acuerdence de la Vitamina “A”
=o)
Buen Día!!!
esta es la importancia de un ladrillo!!, una pequeña parte que falta en cada etapa de la vida, pero que por pereza o falta de interés, tiempo o cualquier otra cosa, nos hace modificar cosas mas importantes.
y nos resignamos a cambiar los planos originales.
pero No Pensamos que Cualquier decisión por pequeña que sea, ya estamos modificando nuestra vida y de las personas que nos rodean.
Al cambiar un poco, Yo, estoy cambiando a todo a mi alrededor.
You know what? It’s not often you come across someone helpful enough to give you another option! I like that the builder gave you a choice. :)
bt my dear choices in life makes a man more fragile to the precarious situatons he has to face ahead
SE ESTOU CONVICTA DO QUE PRETENDO REALIZAR SEJA NA VIDA PESSOAL OU NA REFORMA DA PAREDE , E ESTÁ FALTANDO UMA PEÇA QUE EU IDEALIZEI CORRO ATRÁS ATÉ CONSEGUIR.
I think sometimes its good to be a missing brick in our lives just to remind us that there are other options and we dont have always to follow the old ones.
ISN’T IT.
..We all have missing brick/s in our lives; and that missing brick will help us remember our shortcomings, our weaknesses, and our need for an Almighty Saviour, whom we can depend and cast upon our anxieties, depressions, and fears of tomorrows’ uncertainty. May we grow in faith to Him each day, as we hopefully wait for Jesus’ second coming in this dark and temporary world of ours. May God bless us all… To God be the glory…
I am grateful for the “missing brick”. It coerced me to find a more creative way to express my life path.
wat if dat one simple brick is dat part which cant b remud nor v can use it aur add it..
nada é ao acaso…talvez nao seja o projecto original das nossas vidas ..quando falta uma peça, ou simplesmente nao é o momento propiçio para o concluir!!!!
Every day everyone is feeling some missing brick…
what’s d reason behind it.evr contemplated.
The Missing Brick creates the opportunity of more options than the original one and may be more beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
EL LADRILLO FALTANTE PUEDE SER VISTO, COMO TODO LO NEGATIVO QUE SIEMPRE VEMOS A NUESTRO ALREDEDOR..EN ESTE CASO YO DIRIA LO MISMO. BUSQUEMOS OTRO LADRILLO, PERO NUNCA CAMBIARIA EL PLAN…
This story is so true!!! If I had a brick for every time I rearranged my life… As always thanks for sharing. :-)
‘Just buy another brick,’ wrote my wife.
In all this ”missing brick” philosophy, it’s the part I like the most :)
…not infrequently wives can make a man’s life miserable… But to have such One – is just a precious bless!
awesomely written … <3
I don’t think one missing brick can ever have any bad effect on the plan of our lives.The one missing brick gives us new opportunities to shape our lives in a more beautiful way.One should not count the missing bricks,one should consider the number of bricks left with them… and use it in a creative way.
i fully agree with u…
Very true sir and we all are living lives with missing bricks.
Tal vez debiéramos tener un “ladrillo” siempre con nosotros para ponerlo donde aparentemente falte algo y ese ladrillo podría ser ver las cosas como son, y aceptarlas tal cual.
If there is a missing brick and it can’t be fitted, then start again and do it properly next time. learn by our mistakes.
Tal vez debiéramos tener un “ladrillo” siempre con nosotros para ponerlo siempre donde aparentemente falte falte algo y ese ladrillo podría ser ver las cosas como son, y aceptarlas tal cual.
ITA! Why let someone else dictate your life? Or your kitchen? It was an opportunity to change things, as does often happen in life. Let it be your choice, always! Not others. Follow your own path!
Exactly… it is like compromisng for nothing…
I am reminded of a children’s book called the missing piece…we often look outside of ourselves for what we think is missing…no one else is your missing piece it’s all inside you
Maybe it is better sometimes to abandon the original plan. forget about that missing piece that you think will bring perfection/completeness. Take stock of what you have, and come up with something fresh and beautiful(But make sure it suits you, not what someone else thinks you need!)
ya..but there are few brick we really can’t buy like the few things in life we can’t have…and then it seems to be difficult to understand what was the actual plan…
Very true. Sometimes such little things in our lives can entirely change all of our plans. And yet, it will never be the same as it was before. Things do not always come out right, but anyway, in the end we have to make it all right.
simple presentation which makes u think
hats-off sir….
to be missing one brick, then decide first to change the original plan.. to get that kitchen wall build without that last stone… of course that will not do, be never how it was intended, how it should be, breath harmony by design, love put into, by the ones whom that kitchen wall belong to, even do the builder is building here, the creator is the designer.. stick to your plan, go spent that little extra, if it be money, effort, love, .. sometimes the simplest solution is over looked, put the effort where it suppose to be, the originally plan, not the surrogate..
smile and keep it simple
at peace
That is really a deep thought.
I hope u write a book discussing it.
Wars happened for such reasons.
you’re such a great author,paulo.. you are one of my favorites, i guess it is right to say you are the best of the bests :) i like the way you present realities to me, esp. the lessons i’m learning from your writings..can i ask you a favor? please write about envy and how to detach from it!? your reply will be well appreciated. thank you and God bless :)
sometimes excess of a thng also spoils the plan of life , for an eg. if there is a small tiny particle in our mouth betwee teeth that disturbs a lot, though there are 32 strong big teeth , but a small thngs in between creats problem
geez.. this is so true.. for more than 3 years i’m stuck in the same corner and not knowing how to move away from the spiral.. i’m glad with support of really good friends, i’m slowly understanding and looking at the matter from a different perspective..
although it cost me my time, my effort, my love, i do hope i can survive and work through it and live life for myself
^*^
Hi all of you. A lot of these stories by reading them gave answers and solutions to my thoyghts and lets say problems of everyday life. I also agree with this one but diagree as well. What if the missing brick is an essential “igredient” in a relationshiop and by not having it u have lack of respecting yourself?
Thank you Paulo (if i can call u like that, but i think we all feel so close to you by reading you), for everything you are offering us!!!!
Nat
Wonderful story, Paulo !!
I am looking for the bibliographic information of…… Coelho’s ” MAKTUB” (English Version)……. to refer in my academic paper ,
………………..but i can not find it…………………
can any body help me ???? (the name of …publisher and the year?????)
please answer me via EMAIL
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