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…”
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
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