25 September, 2004

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND COFFEE

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 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.

So 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 favorite 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. 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." Please share this with someone you care about. Have a blessed day!!!

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It's fairly likely you've already read this somewhere, but there are certain things I feel are significant enough in their message so as to merit repeating... And some people have to have something sent about a dozen times or more before they realise "Gee, maybe I should read this..."


It was a busy nite round my house this last one... Brian and I found a couple beautifull chest of drawers the other evening that some schmuck had thrown out & totally trashed. He rebuilt one back as a dresser (which proved to be more handy than I inititially realised, because emptying the olde one caused me to get rid of some things I never wear & reorganize my dressers in a more usefull manner - yeah me!) & it's actually got bout 3 more drawers than I use, so Hallelujah! more storage!! The other dresser he's rebuilding to use as a kitchen hutch with 2 drawers in the bottom & a couple shelves. That ones proving to be more of a problem because the drawers don't go all the way across the inside & he's having trouble making shelves out of them. Anyhow, tho, so we moved the office all around- and I mean
all around- last nite after what had already been a very hectic day... We were both very tired & I just managed to get the bed cleared off before I crashed and he still hadda stay up for a bit to hook things up.

So now there's much more space in the office... The recliner's been moved up in the room by the window, so company isn't so far away against the back wall... it's just much better. Hopefully tonite while I'm at work he'll get the hutch finished & we can do the kitchen tonite (man does it need it!!)


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