The Story of a Wood Cutter

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.

Lessons of Perception: Contrasting Paths in the Sales World

Two friends, Jim and Stew, both joined a large sales company right after graduating, demonstrating their strong work ethic.

After three years had passed, the company's director decided to promote Stew to the position of sales executive, while Jim remained in the sales department without any promotion.

Feeling that this was unjust, Jim approached his boss and expressed his dissatisfaction, claiming that hard-working employees were not being appreciated. Recognizing Jim's dedication, the boss wanted to highlight the disparity between Jim and Stew, so he assigned Jim a task. He instructed Jim to find someone selling watermelons in the market and gather some information.

Jim ventured to the market and returned to the boss with the price of $12 per kilogram. Curious, the boss then asked Stew the same question. Stew embarked on his market expedition and returned with detailed information: there was currently only one watermelon seller, offering watermelons at $12 per kilogram or $100 for 10 kilograms. The seller had 340 watermelons in stock, with 48 of them displayed on the table, each weighing approximately 15 kilograms. Stew also added that these watermelons were purchased from the South two days ago, assuring their freshness and good quality.

Jim was astounded by the stark contrast between his own report and Stew's. He realized that there was much he could learn from his friend.

This story exemplifies the notion that successful individuals possess a heightened level of observation. They have the ability to think and plan years ahead, while many others only focus on immediate concerns.

Enjoy Life

 

An old man lived in the village. He was one of the most unfortunate people in the world. The whole village was tired of him; he was always gloomy, he constantly complained and was always in a bad mood.

 

The longer he lived, the more bile he was becoming and the more poisonous were his words. People avoided him, because his misfortune became contagious. It was even unnatural and insulting to be happy next to him.

 

He created the feeling of unhappiness in others.

 

But one day, when he turned eighty years old, an incredible thing happened. 

Instantly everyone started hearing the rumor:

 

“An Old Man is happy today, he doesn’t complain about anything, smiles, and even his face is freshened up.”

 

The whole village gathered together. The old man was asked:

 

Villager: What happened to you?

 

“Nothing special. Eighty years I’ve been chasing happiness, and it was useless. And then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That’s why I’m happy now.” – An Old Man

 

Moral of the story:

Don’t chase happiness. Enjoy your life.

The Greedy Lion

It was an incredibly hot day, and a lion was feeling very hungry.

 

He came out of his den and searched here and there. He could find only a small hare. He caught the hare with some hesitation. “This hare can’t fill my stomach” thought the lion.

 

As the lion was about to kill the hare, a deer ran that way. The lion became greedy. He thought;

“Instead of eating this small hare, let me eat the big deer.”

 

He let the hare go and went behind the deer. But the deer had vanished into the forest. The lion now felt sorry for letting the hare off.

 

Moral of the story:

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

The Farmer and the Snake

A Farmer walked through his field one cold winter morning. On the ground lay a Snake, stiff and frozen with the cold. The Farmer knew how deadly the Snake could be, and yet he picked it up and put it in his bosom to warm it back to life.

The Snake soon revived, and when it had enough strength, bit the man who had been so kind to it. The bite was deadly and the Farmer felt that he must die. As he drew his last breath, he said to those standing around, “Learn from my fate not to take pity on a scoundrel or evildoer”.

Moral: There are some who never changes their nature, regardless of how good we behave with them. Always stay alert and maintain the distance from those who are there only thinking about their own benefits

Look Before You Leap

Once a fox was chased by a tiger in a forest. He ran as fast as he could in order to save his life. But suddenly, he fell into a well which was covered with shrubs that obstructed his vision, as he was running. He could not come out of the well. Now the fox knew that death had been waiting for him in that well. He was sad.

 

Soon the fox heard a goat bleating nearby. He shouted loudly from inside the well to call the goat. The goat came near the well and asked him, "Friend, what are you doing there in the well?"

 

The fox said, "Friend, have you not heard that a drought is soon coming in the country, and there will be no water anywhere? So I've come here to enjoy the sweet water of this well. The water is so tasty that I do not even feel hungry. Why don't you join me, friend? Just jump into the well, and give me a pleasant company!"

 

The foolish goat believed the fox and agreed to join her friend. As she jumped, the clever fox placed one of his feet on her horn and escaped from the well. Now the poor goat was inside the well. She cried, "Friend, why do you leave me here alone? Come back."

 

The fox said, "Friend, you should have looked before you had leaped into the well to see if it was possible for you to come out of it. You did not do that, and hence let you suffer."

 

The fox left the place, and the goat lay in the well counting the days for her inevitable death.

The Kite without a Thread

Once a father and son went to the kite flying festival. The young son became very happy seeing the sky filled with colorful kites. He too asked his father to get him a kite and a thread with a roller so he can fly a kite too. So, the father went to the shop at the park where the festival was being held. He purchased kites and a roll of thread for his son. 

His son started to fly a kite. Soon, his kite reached high up in the sky. After a while, the son said, “Father, It seems that the thread is holding up a kite from flying higher, If we break it, It will be free and will go flying even higher. Can we break it?” So, the father cut the thread from a roller. The kite started to go a little higher. That made a son very happy.

But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. And, soon it fell down on the terrace of the unknown building. The young son was surprised to see this. He had cut the kite loose of its thread so it can fly higher, but instead, it fell down. He asked his father, “Father, I thought that after cutting off the thread, the kite can freely fly higher. But why did it fall down?”

The Father explained, “Son, At the height of life that we live in, we often think that some things we are tied with and they are preventing us from going further higher. The thread was not holding the kite from going higher, but it was helping it stay higher when the wind slowed down and when the wind picked up, you helped the kite go up higher in a proper direction through the thread. And when we cut the thread, it fell down without the support you were providing to the kite through the thread”.

The son realized his mistake.

Moral: Sometimes we feel that we can progress quickly and reach to the newer heights in our life if we were not tied up with our family, our home. But, we fail to realize that our family, our loved ones help us survive the tough time in our lives with their support and encourage us to reach higher heights in our life.