Many of you have probably hear this, but it was new to me, and worth sending on:

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2" in diameter. 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, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the student again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The students laughed.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course,the sand filled up everything else.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your faith, your family, your partner, your health, your children - anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time 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 dancing.

There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal." "Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), January 31, 2001

Answers

Response to Are you taking care of the rocks or the sand?

Well said!!

-- Charles Steen (xbeeman412@aol.com), January 31, 2001.

Response to Are you taking care of the rocks or the sand?

Ooooooooo!!! Thats good! Thank you Jan......Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), January 31, 2001.

Jan, Thank You so much for sharing that! I'd never heard it before, and I'm sure I will be thinking about it a lot. I love visuals, they really help me stay focused.

-- Cathy in NY (hrnofplnty@yahoo.com), February 01, 2001.

You can still fit a cup or two of water in that jar, after the sand has settled.

Just FYI

-- Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), February 01, 2001.

Great! I'm going to share this one with my kids!(my human ones!) Thanks Jan!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), February 02, 2001.

Thanks for reminding me. I had an instuctor at W.S.C.C. that used the same example.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.