Saturday, March 12, 2005
larla sent this email to the KZcrew yahoo group about a year ago. And I remember finding it so brilliant I never had the heart to delete it from my yahoo inbox.
LIFE AND A CAN OF BEER
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 beer.
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 cans of beer 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, 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, 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 beer 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 beers.
This piece so effectively instructs us to fix our priorities in such a way that we'll be able to fit a lot of things in our life. Although i strongly advocate this brilliant piece of advice -- I often forget and I find myself with my priorites all screwed up. Like neglecting to email my mum and dad in pursuit of the elusive High Distinctions. Or (deliberately?) forgetting to snail mail birthday cards to friends back home or in England just because 'I really couldn't be bothered -- what with all the things I have on my plate right now'. Whenever I catch myself putting too much weight on inconsequential things.. I track back and try to wedge in the 'big things' that I should be putting first.. like keeping in touch with my parents who are really the two people who made possible everything good that is going for me right now and the friends and other family who has helped me become who i am. (sounds like an acceptance speech, hey?!)
And of course.. because I am a believer of the therapeutic powers of alcohol - I love the fact that it reminds us that all the responsibilities, deadlines and obligations whirling around in our heads constantly -- could be put aside for a moment so you can enjoy a drink or two or more.
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pebble beach, california
war memorial, Canberra
hongkong ferry
chay&ling @ cena
mini me w/ cuzn chie
kazahkstan
NYE 2005 Sydney
wijah, little tea pot
bateman's bay
Alcoholic KZ crew
with flatmate and best friend ron
university freaks
university kids
josh pissed as usual
with tete on my 21st
filos in uni
beach buddies
