The sharpen axes

I was recently told the story of the two lumberjacks who worked the same number of hours, but one of them would leave for an hour in the middle of the day and still somehow manage to cut more wood than the other. This went on for months! The one who never stopped dared to ask him his secret:

- I can't figure it out, every day we start at the same time, you go away for an hour in the middle of the day and at the end you end up with more than I do. What do you do during that hour?

- Oh, I'm going home to sharpen my axe!

What if getting your axe sharpened was actually about taking time for yourself to become a better version of yourself? What if it was about staying away from technology and enjoying the moment with inspiring people? What if it meant calling up friends and having a good time with them afterwards? What if it was cooking yourself a delicious meal even when you're alone?

Every new year is a chance to start over with a blank page. We can do a reset, but we will never be able to erase the past, which has made us who we are today. It's important to define what's important and to make sure that everything is in place to get where we want to be, because where we are is more crucial than where we hope to be. 

Change is usually uncomfortable, but it will eventually bring self-fulfilment. We know who we are not, more than who we really are. We might surprise ourselves by discovering who we could become!  

It's hard to know who we are, and how we define ourselves, but at the end of the day, we're the authors of our own book, our own story! We might as well keep the antagonists away, because they'll only create confusion and interfere with what really matters. Often, having too many options isn't idyllic and after all wastes a lot of time. What's essential is simplicity. We should never corrupt our soul or our joy... We usually do our best, but we don't always do our best. 

When we stop giving time and attention to things that don't define us, or to things that give us limited pleasure, we finally open up to ourselves. We allow ourselves to spend quality time with those who deserve it. Is what what I do truly want? Is devoting myself to this person or that cause is what's right for me? Is it the appropriate to keep this person I like at a distance to avoid being hurt, because I know the joy he or she brings me? 

It's often a case of us against ourselves... Once we've chosen ourselves, we'll realize that our axe is sharpened and that the best is finally here. If not, we may have to switch to a saw or rethink our game plan...

Finding our joy without sacrificing our happiness, isn't that the ultimate sophistication!