[Adapted from =
“7 Habits of Highly Effective =
People”]
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.
“Congratu=
lations,” 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.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"