Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.
The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”
Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”
Reflection:
Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy that ever.
Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to get close to our Creator, giving more time for our family, taking time to read etc.
We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.
Author: Stephen Covey
From: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Great story….yea….ppl nwdays tend to forget they have life being so busy in their working lives….money is important but the most important how much u have live peace within that period……
It’s a nice story. I love it.
Amazing.. !!! It’s true that ppl have become busy in lives, it’s really important to take time out for ourselves and our family and friends…:-)
Really great story. So many things to learm from it.
That’s a really nice story…it’s true that we are being busy each day, running after money.. showing off.. what they can do.. and what they have.. bothering about the whole world but no time for family…
It is really a true story………We are always busy over things that ends at the grave.
Nice story!
Very inspiring and heart touching story, I really like it!
Superb.
So nice.
Amazing story…
That’s so wonderful because it shows the importance of balance in life.
Very nice story, have meaning ful themes.
It’s very interesting…… and think about to sharp brain.
Enjoy reading these stories
Nice one. I love this story, really motivational.
It’s really a very motivating story.
I’m really touched. We need to go back to the basics
Good story, the same may happen in our daily working style so always remind this story.
Very motivational story to axe our knowledge.
It is an intresting story for children.
Very fantastic..It help us to realize changes!!!