When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jarand the 2 cups of coffee . A professor stood before hisphilosophy class and had some items in front of him. When theclass began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and emptymayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. Hethen asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed thatit was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured theminto the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled intothe open areas between the golf balls. He then asked thestudents again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.The professor next picked up a box of sa nd and poured it intothe jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. Heasked once more if the jar was full. The students respondedwith an unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under thetable and poured the entire contents into the jar effectivelyfilling the empty space between the sand. The studentslaughed.
'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I wantyou to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golfballs are the important things---your family, your children,your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and ifeverything else was lost and only they remained, your lifewould still be full. The pebbles are the other things thatmatter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put thesand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room forthe pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If youspend all your time and energy on the small stuff you willnever have room for the things that are important to you.'Pay attention to the things that are critical to yourhappiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with yourparents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medicalcheckups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18.There will always be time to clean the house and fix thedisposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things thatreally matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'One of the students raised her hand and inquired what thecoffee represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm gladyou asked.'
The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your lifemay seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffeewith a friend.'
Now as I get older, I find it harder to get words out of my mouth. It's like the more I say/write things, the more real they are. A lot of the times I don't want to admit. It just makes it that much harder to be honest to myself. I was looking back on my old blogs, and they're from around exactly a year ago. How in the world did things change so much? Sucks that I don't feel like I've grown up.
Can this year leave already, please. Good riddance.
