Are you the best lumberjack? Published March 1, 2016 By Lt. Col. Sean O'Brien 436th Aerospace Medicine Squadron commander DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- A young man decided to become a lumberjack. He was tall, broad shouldered and built of solid muscle. He was good at swinging an axe and thought he could become the best lumberjack. He got hired on with a busy timber company and with daily experience, his skill quickly improved. Within a few months he quickly rose to become the most productive of the new lumberjack recruits. He started to brag about his skill among the other lumberjacks. All the new recruits readily agreed he was the best amongst them. Then he began to boast that he could certainly beat any of the older lumberjacks as well. He had more energy, strength and just as much skill as they did. Initially the older lumberjacks ignored his boasting, but after several weeks of constant bragging, they decided something needed to be done before it turned into a rivalry. The oldest lumberjack approached the younger and they decided to settle it with a head-to-head competition. The next day, from sun-up to sun-down, each of them would start with one axe from the company's quartermaster shed and chop down as many trees as they could. Whoever had the tallest stack at the end of the day would be declared the winner. The next day all the lumberjacks came out to watch the competition. As the first rays of the sun crested the mountains, the competition began. The younger lumberjack sprinted into his side of the forest and started chopping with enthusiasm. In the distance he could hear the sound of the older lumberjack's axe biting into the trees. Soon the forest reverberated with the sound of the two lumberjack's axes echoing each other, only briefly interrupted by the sound of a tree falling. After about an hour, the older lumberjack's side of the forest fell silent. The younger lumberjack thought to himself that the older lumberjack must have become tired and be taking a break. He seized the opportunity to surge ahead and scarcely paused long enough to take a quick drink before he attacked the next tree with ferocity. While the other side of the forest remained quiet for several moments, he felled another tree. This pattern continued throughout the day. Each hour the forest was full of the melody of the two axes in near synchronicity. But every hour the older lumberjack's side of the forest would go quiet, and the younger lumberjack would continue chopping. When the sun finally set, the younger lumberjack was covered in tree sap and wood chips, his ax worn and his whole body exhausted. But he was confident he had won the competition and strolled out of the forest to claim his victory. To his amazement he did not win. The clear winner by a large margin was instead the older lumberjack. In disbelief he turned and confronted the older lumberjack, "you took breaks every hour, I never slowed. I worked straight through the day. How could you beat me?" The older and wiser lumberjack calmly answered, "Those times you heard my side of the forest go quiet I was not taking a break, I was pausing to take the time to sharpen my axe." This simple vignette has been around in various forms for hundreds of years, but is still relevant today. It illustrates how taking the time to improve or recharge ourselves can have a powerful effect on our lives. A great Abraham Lincoln quote is "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Those moments of sharpening the axe can make the difference between working hard and working effectively, between taking time off and actually rejuvenating, between just hanging out and spending quality time. It only takes a small change in focus to become better, but if we do not take the time to evaluate that focus, we may be hard at work, but in the wrong direction. Think of the four pillars of the Comprehensive Airman Fitness: Mental, Physical, Social and Spiritual. Each of these is a key component to develop an integrated resiliency. Each has multiple aspects that can be found in our lives, and we would benefit from taking the time to sharpen a little. Is our mental fitness solid enough to have self-awareness, adaptability and positive thinking? Do we have the endurance, nutrition and strength of physical fitness and do we take the time to recover and counterbalance the stress of our lives? Have we built the support, teamwork, communication and connectedness to engage in healthy social fitness? Have we instilled our core values into our moral compass, held steady in our perseverance and perspective as we find our purpose with spiritual fitness? Do we know our wingmen well enough to notice when they are struggling and lend a helping hand. More importantly, are we strong enough ourselves to realize when our resiliency is insufficient for the stressors before us and ask for help. Take a few moments and think of what 'sharpens your axe.' What makes you more resilient? What will help you be a better Airman, member of your family, part of our community? Write these down, share them with people who care about you, look at the list daily and make sure to do at least one each day. Turn this into a daily habit and it will improve every aspect of your life. Remember, sharpen your axe and become the best lumberjack.