Sharpen Your Axe>Save Your World

At the bottom of his garden, a determined man hacks away at a thick and damp conifer tree with increasing difficulty and frustration. Thud..... Thud........... Thud. He wants to make space for his growing family, and also allow more light into his garden. Thud..... Thud.....

It’s very tiring work, but it has to be done. He feels responsible for his children’s well-being and happiness, but also really would love just a bit of sunlight shining onto his garden. Thud..... Thud.....

“That axe sounds dull, it needs sharpening!” His neighbour shouts from over the fence. Thud..... Thud..... Thud..... “If you don’t sharpen your axe, it’ll take you weeks!”

Thud.....

The man irritated at being disturbed, rolls his eyes and takes a deep breath (he reasons its either that, or throw the axe at his well meaning neighbour in frustration!)

Thud........... Tired of his neighbours stupidity the man groans “Can’t you see I’m too busy cutting to sharpen my axe!?”

Have you ever been too busy to cook real, fresh food? What about spending time on that book which you know will help to fast track your career?

There’s a saying which I believe is true; “You’re either growing or you’re dying”

The mind is a wily thing. Our ego annexes our thinking without us even realising it, and we convince ourselves that regardless of whether or not we are doing the things we know we SHOULD be doing, we are growing anyway (such is the power of our ego). It’s a lie we tell ourselves. Sabotaged into self destruction mode again.

Later that evening......

The man is sat scrolling on his phone in front of the warm fire in his home. The TV is on in the background, and close by is his son that like most little boys, just loves playing with his dad.

“Daddy, can we play fight?”

“Daddy when are we next going to the park?”

“Daddy will you play dinosaurs with me?”

He’s very busy but loves his son more than anything in the world. It breaks his heart that he is always so exhausted from the rat race of life, working on the house and ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’.

He likes to relax with a glass of beer and answer all of the messages he would have from customers, friends on social media and watches the videos he’d been sent or tagged in. He needs that ‘me time’.

To keep his son happy, he bought his son a second hand jigsaw of the world from eBay. Just difficult enough to keep his twittering son occupied (but to complete in his presence, so he feels like they are spending time together).

He has only just gotten through a few of his WhatsApp messages when his spritely little boy proudly chirps up...

“Finished Daddy!!!” 

“Surely not...” he thinks to himself.

“It’d have taken ME at least 10 minutes to do this jigsaw! He’s only 6 years old!?”

Confused and not wanting to show his irritation, the man asks his son; “Well done, you’re such a clever boy! But son, how did you manage to finish it so quickly?”

“Oh it was simple Daddy... on the back of the jigsaw was a drawing of a person. I just put the person together, and that put the world together”

This article isn’t about saving the world. It’s about saving your world.

We are longing to be recognised and accepted, but easily distracted and compulsive. So we waste time scrolling. We are pressed for time so eat the fast and tasty food with no nutritional value and we don’t have the energy to exercise, and as a result we feel lethargic and (dare I say it) ugly. We are addicted to food with no nutritional value, and programmes with no nutritional value.

It’s very very difficult cycle to break. And the cycle is blunting our axe.

How can we break the cycle?

We are a product of our habits, good or bad. Doesn’t it make sense to have habits that grow us...That sharpen the axe?

Start small and develop the habits that will support our growth. Reading, exercising, preparing and planning, being self aware... the list goes on.

We give up on ourselves, so make the reason why you sharpen your axe about a purpose or someone else. Hold yourself accountable to it. And slowly, through tiny changes in habit, we can start taking control again.

Body, mind, heart and spirit.

These are the components that might constitute the whole person. The whole ‘self’.

If we can take time to intentionally GROW in those four areas, life becomes balanced and manageable. Stresses fade, thinking becomes clear, energy increases and true purpose reveals itself, and with it, contentment.

This isn’t a message of HOW TO. It’s a message of WHY.

There’s a thought process in fire & rescue operations that goes something like this; If I’m safe, I can keep others safe. What good am I as a rescuer if I become the one that needs rescuing?

We might not be able to solve the worlds problems by sharpening the axe (many people try).... But we can solve OUR own little worlds problems. And who knows what might happen if we can all take the time to fix the whole person.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I'd spend the first four hours sharpening the axe" - Abraham Lincoln

Let’s give ourselves the time to sharpen the axe, then in that process we can put the man together, and with it our world.

Matt