(Special thanks to Sara for sharing this!)Wednesday, November 18
Thursday, July 9
Monday, June 29
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 cups of coffee
When things in your life seem
almost too much to handle,
when 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar
and 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 in to 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 -
God, family, children, health,
friends, and 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, house, and 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.
So...
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."
almost too much to handle,
when 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar
and 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 in to 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 -
God, family, children, health,
friends, and 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, house, and 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.
So...
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."
Wednesday, June 24
Spend some time alone every day
Occasionally my mom will FWD me these Mediation emails she subscribes to. She's so great at finding ways to encourage me and sometimes these just say it all.
Friday, February 20
A Crisis of Confidence
This was emailed to me by my always encouraging mother today. She came across it in a newsletter while at work.
A Crisis of Confidence
"We're really pinching pennies these days." I've heard that a lot lately, from customers across the spectrum. It's as if the world is about to fall off a steep cliff, never to be seen again.
Perhaps our Grand Canyon, is more like a slight dip in the road. What if we all woke up in the morning and pretended that the last four months never happened? Would the wheels of commerce once again begin to turn?
Any student of history or economics knows that hard times are nothing new. Here's what Ralph Waldo Emerson had to say about it, 150 years ago:
Maybe hard times are good times to reconsider your course. Maybe they're really opportunities in disguise, designed to test our wits and fortitude. Maybe now's the time to do things that we knew we should have been done before, but were just too comfortable to take action.
A Crisis of Confidence
"We're really pinching pennies these days." I've heard that a lot lately, from customers across the spectrum. It's as if the world is about to fall off a steep cliff, never to be seen again.
Perhaps our Grand Canyon, is more like a slight dip in the road. What if we all woke up in the morning and pretended that the last four months never happened? Would the wheels of commerce once again begin to turn?
Any student of history or economics knows that hard times are nothing new. Here's what Ralph Waldo Emerson had to say about it, 150 years ago:
We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork; now a little
joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action. We must always
be little whilst we have these alternations. Character is regular and
homogeneous. Our world, it is true, is like us: it has many weathers, here a
shade and there a rainbow; here gravel and there a diamond; polar ice, then
temperate zone, then torrid; now a genius, then a good many mediocre people.
Maybe hard times are good times to reconsider your course. Maybe they're really opportunities in disguise, designed to test our wits and fortitude. Maybe now's the time to do things that we knew we should have been done before, but were just too comfortable to take action.
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