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My mother sent this to me and I decided that it was too perfect. It fits today's standards of "let's do everything we can" when in reality, we can't.

In times past, there was this one very strong woodcutter. He asked for a job from a timber merchant, and was hired.

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

His boss gave him a new ax and showed him the forest area where he was supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought down 18 trees.

The boss was very much impressed and said, "Congratulations! Keep up the great work!"

Very motivated by the encouraging words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring down 16 trees.

The third day he tried even harder, but he only could bring down 12 trees.

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

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 ax?" the boss asked.

Hmmmm. He was taken aback. He hadn't thought to sharpen his ax. He was much too busy trying to cut trees.

The moral of the story:

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

In today's world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but perhaps less productive than we can be, and even less happy. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?

There is 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, family and spiritual life, taking time to care for others, to read for enjoyment, exercise, relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow.

To hone our professional and volunteer skills, to replenish our well of inspiration by seeking out opportunities to gain new insights, reach new levels of achievement, and gather others to our cause with more success.

If we don't take time to sharpen the ax, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

So consider starting today, with this message. Think about the ways by which you can be more effective and add value to everything you do.

May you stay sharp and find fulfillment always.

"To handle yourself, use your head. To handle others, use your heart."

Okay random fact: I'm Catholic and I enjoy poking fun at my religion.

My family decided to have a "family day" today. Well, our last stop of the day was at this little tiny theater which had a play poking fun at Catholics. The stuff in there was pretty much true and just hilarious. My brother would slouch and the "sister" would yell at him to sit up. He started doing it on purpose just to get a reaction. The sister is in quotes because the actress wasn't a real nun (there was a real nun in the audience though). She kept us entertained for two hours though and I laughed the whole time. Nothing beats Catholics poking fun at themselves.

Today's topic: People and how they change
Dedicated to: my little sisters. you know who you are

Okay. Here's one thing that always seems to surprise me. Not many people seem to realize that other people can and do change. Let's use me as an example. I don't have the complete mind of an 18 year old. Sure, I'm bright and mainly with it but I'm still sensitive to critism and other things. I am, however, less sensitive than I was a year ago. Why? Because I found a reason to change and I found people willing to support me. That's right. I found people who needed no reason to be around me to help support me. I thank them for it. I didn't even know them at this time last year (well maybe a little).

They came to me with their problems and they knew some of my problems. There developed a sense of belonging with the three of us. We could walk along and not have to say a word because we knew what was in each of our minds. And then came the day when one of them called me sister. And I truly felt a different person. I had changed some but these two people didn't care if I had or not. I would always have advice for them. I changed.

Here's a poem I wrote for them.

I look back now
And I don't see
How we became
More than friends.
We never met
Until this year
But when we first met
We didn't talk.
We knew that
the other was in the band.
Two are freshmen,
One a senior.
One simple conversation
That I somehow joined
Led to more conversations
And somehow,
Something more.
You both
Called me sister
And that's when
I realize what had happened.
We had defied the rules.
We became sisters.
We don't talk about
Normal girl stuff
But rather
About what originally
Brought us together.
Somehow, we became sisters
And I seem
to not remember
A time
Without you.

Well, here it is folks. I've graduated from high school finally. Granted those weren't the best years of my life. I have a lot of emotional rebuilding to do but I look towards college as a fresh start. I love the fact that I can be independent but still close enough to home that should something happen, I can be home fast. I'm heading about two hours north of where I currently live to go to college. I like how close it is to home but I won't be coming home every weekend.

Here's a very good piece of advice: College is a fresh start because no one knows you there. Use the opportunities given to you.

this was in my friend's journal and i'm adding it to mine

Am I sweet?-
Am I crazy?-
Am I lovable?-
Am I funny?-
Am I ugly?-
Am I an a*****e?-
Am I hot?-
Am I psycho?-
Am I annoying?-
Am I a good person?-
Am I a bad person?-
Am I a dork?-

2)******Would You******
Hug me?-
Kiss me?-
Love me?-
Miss me if i was gone?-
Listen to my problems?-
Hug me if i cried?-
Be a good friend?-

3)******If You Could...******

Give me a new name it would be?-
Change any thing about me?-
Do one thing with me it would be?-
Drop me one piece of advice it would be?-

4)******Just A Few Questions******

What do you like/love about me?-
What do you hate about me?-
What is my best quality?-

********Yourself********

1. Who are you?-
2. How old are you?-
3. Are we good friends?-
4. Do we know each other in real life?-
5. Is my avatar hot?-
6. Do you remember how we met?
7. Will you put this in your journal so i can answer these questions about you?(or just pm me the ansers)

i've decided that i hate the memorial day parade. it's hot, there's no shade where we march, and our uniforms are WOOL!!! plus, i ended up getting dehydrated which isn't fun. my mum said that i didn't look good through the entire thing. my face was red and i felt sick. not fun. i had been drinking water and gatorade but it didn't help. my one friend gave me some of her ice cubes. (she had a cup full of them) and her sister gave out wet wipes. the wet wipes felt really good since they were cool.

word to the wise: NEVER MARCH WHEN THE TAR IS MELTING.

I finally was able to change my background on my profile. And then I went and looked up Inuyasha pictures...I've also written a very cute and semi-sad oneshot and have only two finals!!!!

Yes this is short but that's all there is to write.

I'm sitting here thinking and what am I thinking about? My aunt who's getting married this July and a memory I have of her. When I was little, my brother and I would stay a weekend at our nanna's house. We'd be picked up Friday around lunch and come home late Sunday. My aunt would come with us to Church on Sunday and the one year, her and I raced my grandparents and brother back to nanna's house. It was a long time ago but for some reason, when I think about my aunt, this memory comes to mind.

also, there is one other thing on my mind. two of my friends here on gaia are also my friends off of the site. the other day, they both called me sister and it made me wonder. i don't remember how we started talking but somehow, we skipped the whole "friends" part and went straight to sisterhood. i wonder how we skipped it and somehow, it seems that the fates had something in store for us. i'm not a huge believer in fate but this is just too weird. I've known both under a year and i know that they'll say the same but we've become sisters. i advise and they're crazy like younger siblings usually are but i love both of them to death like they really were my sisters.