Once upon a time, there was a very strong woodcutter. He asked for a
job
from a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so
were
the work conditions. For that reason the woodcutter was determined to
do his
best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was
supposed to work.
The first day, the woodcutter brought down 18 trees. The Boss was
very
much impressed and said, "Congratulations keep it up!" Very motivated
by
the words of the boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he
only
could bring down 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he
only
could bring down 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing down less
and
less trees. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought to
himself.
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.

The moral of the story: 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 than ever. Why is that?
Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp? There is 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 care for others, taking time to read, etc.

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If
we
don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our
effectiveness. So start from today, think about the ways by which you
could do your job more effectively and add a lot of value to it. Hope
this
story has given you some insight to life. May you be happy always.
"To handle yourself, use your head. To handle others, use your heart."