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Friday, March 21, 2008

The Important Things In Life!

When things in your lives 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, he wordlessly 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 family, your children, your health, your friends and
your favorite passions --- and 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.
Spend time with your family and the ones you love.

There will always be time to clean the house and party it up elsewhere.

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."

Author Unknown



Signed, Regular Guy

8 comments:

  1. What a lovely post. I always say that when I'm over 90 years old, and I look back at the years gone by, I'm not going to remember how tidy I kept my house. We have to make room to live our lives. I am stumbling this post, so that others can also share in this reminder.

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  2. Thanks Tamera,

    It's one of my favorites also. It's very easy to get sidetracked by all the "small stuff" and also to get wrapped up in all the negativity that we are all surrounded by everyday, so I think that it's important to try to keep things in perspective! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  3. Hey like your blog, notice you have links for bipolar and personality disorder...does your x suffer from it or family members? have a brother that is bi polar myself ...would like to link exchange but please read my blog its not for everyone, I tend to have a gutter mouth and dirty mind lol but just occassionally , check it out see if you are interested

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  4. Thanks Kat,

    Yes, it's the "x" who is mentally ill and not mentioned in this particular post, but I can't make it all about her. I did that for way too many years already! I checked out the litter box and sent you a shout on blog catalog about exchanging links.

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  5. you are linked baby lol

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  6. ok your nick names for your x and her family...dang nearly peed my pants too funny

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  7. it is better reading than any book could provide!

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  8. Thanks anonymous and all the rest of my new readers. I'm glad you're enjoying. I really do appreciate the comments!

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