1. The Woodcutter

2. Once upon a time, there was a very strong woodcutter. He asked for a job from a timber merchant, and he got it.

3. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

4. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.

5. The first day, the woodcutter brought down 18 trees.

6. The Boss was very much impressed and said, "Congratulations keep it up!"

7. Very motivated by the words of the boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring down 15 trees.

8. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring down 10 trees.

9. Day after day he was bringing down less and less trees. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought to himself.

10. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

11. "When was the last time you sharpened your Axe?" the boss asked.

12. "Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my Axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees.

13. The moral of the story:

14. Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to sharpen the axe.

15. In today's world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that?

16. Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?

17. There is nothing wrong with activity and hard work.

18. 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, taking time to pray, etc.

19. We all need time to relax, to think and pray, to learn and grow.

20. If we don't take time to sharpen our lives, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness also our competency.

21. To stay competent is as important as your life and it is your responsibility to do so. It is a guarantee that you will succeed and most wanted in your career.

22. So start from today, think about the ways by which you could increase you competency level. So that you can do your job more effectively and add a lot of value to it.

23. Hope this story has given you some insight to life.

24. May you be happy always.