Just a Thought...

[neonlyte]

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar... and the 2 cups of coffee.
----
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18 holes of golf.
There will always be time to clean the house and "fix the disposal."

Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Sent to me by a friend in Portugal. Makes a good deal of sense.

 

[arienette]

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar... and the 2 cups of coffee.
----
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18 holes of golf.
There will always be time to clean the house and "fix the disposal."

Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Sent to me by a friend in Portugal. Makes a good deal of sense.

Indeed it does, thank you for sharing.

 

[English Lady]

I love that.

I remeber a childrens talk in church running along the same principle, but the guy used an instrument and an instrument case. If he put the little stuff in first then the instrument wouldn't fit, but if he putthe instrument in, there was room all around it for all the other stuff.

 

[hugo_sam]

Good story Neon,
thanks you sharing it with us.
Good food for thought.
*FH*

 

[Nirvanadragones]

Here's another version of the same kinda story

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised
a glass of water and asked, "how heavy is this glass of water?" Answers
called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute
weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."


"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an
hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day,
you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same
weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If
we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes
increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of
water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it
again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.
Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens
you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can." "Relax;
pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!

 

[JRaven]

I've been sent this before. But in the version I recieved, a beer was poured in rather than the coffee. The punch line being "there's always room to have a beer with friends."

Jenny

 

[SeaCat]

Okay, I'll see if I can remember how this one goes. It was told to me by my father way too many years ago:

A boy walks out into the backyard and sees his father planting a tree. He asks his father why.
"This hole is like your life son. Right now it doesn't hold much. This little Apple Tree is like love. Right now it doesn't seem like much but give it time and it will be something to behold. It will give you shelter, it will prtect you from the wind, and if you nourish it it will nourish you in return." Needless to say the son didn't understand. (Hey who of us would have at ten years old?)

The next day the same boy walks out into the yard and sees his mother planting flowers and asks her why.
"These flowers are like my friends and family. If I take care of them they will grow and provide me with beauty for the rest of my life. They will always be here." Of course the boy didn't understand this either. He thought his parents were a little strange. (Didn't we all at ten?)

The years pass and the boy moves away to follow his own path. One day he learns that his parents had died and is heartbroken. He just hadn't been able to find the time to go home and now they were gone. Packing his things he hurries back to the house he grew up in. Arriving late in the evening he didn't have a chance to look around. Of course that night there had to be a frost.
The boy stays at the house, he has inherited it and he finds he can make a living of sorts there. He is heartbroken though, he misses his parents and their kind words. He misses them because he hadn't been home in way too long before they passed on. Autumn turns to winter and winter turns to spring. The snows melt and the yard is greening up.

One morning the boy, now a man, walks out into the yard and stops in his tracks. He has been meaning to care for the yard but never got around to it. Now as he looks it over he sees something unexpected. He sees the flowers his mother hand planted. He sees theri blooms bobbing slightly in the wind and remembers her words of so long ago. Looking to the side he spies his fathers tree and sees the green of new growth. He also sees the buds of the small flowrs and remembers his fathers words. He understands.

Cat

 

[TheEarl]

I've been sent this before. But in the version I recieved, a beer was poured in rather than the coffee. The punch line being "there's always room to have a beer with friends."

Jenny

I've seen it with the lecturer just using golfballs, pebbles and sand and explaining his theory. Then a student came down to the front and poured a pint of beer in.

The moral of the story is: No matter what's going on in your life, there is always room for beer.

The Earl