A Mayo Jar And Two 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 p icked 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 children. Spend time with your parents. Vis it with Grandparents. Take time
to get medical checkups. Take your spouse 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 and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'
The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's
always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.
A Mouse
A Mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package.
"What food might this contain?" He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, There is a mousetrap in the house!
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house." The pig sympathized but said, "I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, But there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow. She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you. But it's no skin off my nose."
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well. She died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
In the book of Genesis, Cain said about Abel his brother to our God: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra effort to encourage one another.
