Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Golf Balls and Mayonnaise Jar

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 start 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 it
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 an 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 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 spouse out to dinner.

There
will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap.

'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.'

I like this. Thanks for posting it.

Very cool. Great reminder.

That's pretty good, except that I don't have any golf balls.

the coffee is so yous yanks can thaw out a bit! Hey Ron, bout time you chimed in. Great post btw.

This was taken from a book I read I think. Or at least this story was told in the book. I forget the title right now, but It was about a professor who found out he had 1 year to live because of cancer and he chose to write the book throughout that year. I think it was called "the last lecture" if I'm not mistaken. Good book and pretty inspiring.

Yep Ron, I gotta say that this example of metaphorically placing one's "priorities" inside a "container" might be one way to put one's affairs in order, alright.

However...I believe there just might be alternatives to this sort of example which I believe somewhat parallels your posting, and which I believe these two young gentlemen in this video link which I've supplied below just might best represent just such a similar concept....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhwbxEfy7fg

So, if you only have the golf balls of life, then there's way to many "voids" in your life.

Here is The Last Lecture for those who want to watch it.

Will save it and watch it later Rev, its 1 hour 16 minutes and 27 seconds