{"id":1072,"date":"2014-01-27T05:30:46","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T15:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2014-01-27T17:41:23","modified_gmt":"2014-01-28T03:41:23","slug":"the-empty-jar-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=1072","title":{"rendered":"The empty jar. And life."},"content":{"rendered":"

A story from my college days.
\nThis lesson is fairly common, but it’s always new to students.<\/p>\n

\"ball-jar\"<\/a>The Professor was standing before the philosophy class and had a bunch of stuff on the table in front of him.<\/p>\n

Without a word, he picks up a very large, empty\u00a0jar and fills it with golf balls.<\/p>\n

He asks the students if the jar was full.
\nThey agreed that it was.<\/p>\n

So he then picks up a box of small rocks and pours it into the jar.
\nHe shakes it\u00a0a bit and the rocks fill the open areas between the golf balls.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0asks the students again if the jar was full.
\nThey agreed it was.<\/p>\n

The Professor next picked up a box of sand and pours it into the jar.
\nOf course, the sand fills up everything else.<\/p>\n

He asked once more if the jar was full.
\nThey agreed it was.<\/p>\n

Finally he reaches under the table and comes up with a couple of beers and pours them into the jar.
\nIt fills the empty space between the sand.<\/p>\n

Everybody starts laughing, thinking this guy was wacko.<\/p>\n

Where was he going with this?<\/p>\n

Simple, really.
\nThe jar represents your life.<\/p>\n

The golf balls are the important things – your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions.<\/p>\n

Things that if everything else were lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.<\/p>\n

The rocks are the\u00a0things that matter a bit less\u00a0– like your job, your house, your car.<\/p>\n

The sand is everything else – the small stuff.<\/p>\n

If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks or the golf balls.<\/p>\n

The same goes for life.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The lesson that day was to pay attention to the things that are most important to your happiness.<\/p>\n

Be around good people, play with your kids, take care of your health and relationships.<\/p>\n

There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the walls.<\/p>\n

Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.<\/p>\n

Set your priorities.
\nThe rest is just sand.<\/p>\n

\"Primo<\/a>But what about the beer?<\/p>\n

The Professor looked at everyone and said – no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.<\/p>\n

Class dismissed.<\/p>\n

I liked that guy.<\/p>\n

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