The tale of the two lumberjacks
Into the depths of a dark forest, there once lived two strong lumberjacks.
They both lived in small cabins -not too far apart from one another- and they both loved to harvest oaks and pines of the wild forest more than anything in the world.
Every morning, around 4:00 AM, the first lumberjack was ready to go into the woods. He sharped his ax really early and started out his day. There was no time to waste.
The second lumberjack used to woke up at 7:00 AM and had a big breakfast. He loved bread and honey and he loved to eat it slowly while listening to the many sounds of nature surrounding him.
The first lumberjack worked non-stop all day. He loved the sound of his ax against the wood, the smell of the oak trees, the feeling of the sweat dripping down his forehead and the blood running though his hands at the end of the day when he finally could get home and rest. He always chopped 10 tress a day, which made him feel proud and powerful.
The second lumberjack worked very hard as well, stopping once in a while to take some breaks. He used to sit down and listened to the birds, cut some flowers, rest his arms and eat his lunch. Then he would continue to chop more wood. He went home early -with no blood involved-. His personal mark was 15 tress a day, which made him feel proud and powerful.
One night after a long day of work, the first lumberjack passed by the house of the second lumberjack. He was astonished and devastated to count 15 threes on his friend front yard. Confused and in despair, he called out his friend and asked him:
“How can this be? I know you take a rest every hour and I work continuously through the day, there’s no possible way you can chop off more wood, tell me your secret.”.
The second lumberjack turned to him and said:
“You are right old friend, every hour I take a break to rest, eat and sharp my ax”
When was the last time you took a break and put some space between yourself and your projects, your work, your friends, your family, or even your own thoughts?
Sometimes all we need is time to not think about what’s important to figure out what really needs to be done.
