The important things in life…
“Things which
matter most must never be at the mercy
of things which
matter least.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"A philosophy professor stood before his
class with some items on the table 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 rocks, about 2 inches 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 students again if the jar
was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and
poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He then asked once more if the jar was
full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important
things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – 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 rocks. The same goes for
your 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 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.”
~Unknown
~Unknown
Most of the time, priorities are obvious.
If one of your major life goals is a good family life then attending to your
child extra curriculum activities is a higher priority than spending another
hour at work. But on the other hand, if you're going to get fired if you don't
finish that report, you better stay and finish that report.
Managing your time efficiently will
highlight the things that are important to you, review your short terms goals,
your mission statement and make adjustment if necessary as sometimes we get
overwhelmed by our “to be list” and let ourselves get tangled in a web of non-cohesive
“to do list”. Keeping your goals in mind keeps you focused on results.
RosieSandz
