A Pot Of Jam
( The Important Things In Life )
Translated from a French story I received via email.
When it seems that there are "too" many things in your life and when 24
hours in a day never seems to be enough, remember the "Pot of Jam" and coffee story:
There once was a professor of philosophy, who in front of his Class,
took a large empty pot of jam and without saying a word, began to fill
it with golf balls.
Then he asked his students if the jar was full. The Students replied: YES.
The professor then took a box full of marbles and poured the marbles
into the pot of jam. The marbles filled the gaps in between the Golf
balls. The Professor asked the students again if the jar was full.
Again, they replied: YES .
At that point, the professor took a bag of sand and poured it into the
pot of jam. Of course, the sand filled all the remaining gaps and the
professor asked again if the jar was full. The Students unanimously
answered: YES.
The professor then added two cups of coffee to the contents of the jar
thus filling the small gaps between the grains of sand. The students
started laughing. After they stopped, the professor said: "I want you to realize that
the pot of jam represents Life.
The golf balls are the very important things in Life such as family,
children, health, everything you are passionate about. Our lives would
still be full even if we'd lost everything else and these were the only
things that remained.
The marbles are the other things that count in our lives such as work,
house, car, etc ...
The sand represents everything else, all the small things in life.
If we had first poured sand into the pot of jam, there wouldn't have
been any room left for anything else such as the marbles or the golf
balls.
It's the same thing in Life. If we put all our energy and all our time
into the small things, we will never have any
time/space left for the things that really matter.
Pay attention to the things that are really important to your
happiness. Play with your children, take time to go to the doctor, have dinner
with your spouse/partner, exercise or take time to enjoy your favorite
pass-times.
There will always be time to do the cleaning and fix the taps on the
kitchen sink ...
Take care of the golf balls first, of the things that really matter.
Choose your priorities, the rest is just sand."
One of the students then raised a hand and asked what the coffee meant.
The professor smiled and said: "It's good that you ask. I only added
coffee to show that although your lives may seem full and busy, there is
always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.
Good day to all ..."
~ Author Unknown ~
[ Translation by: Carole Toucet -- ( carolemlt2@yahoo.com ) -- submitted by: Carole Toucet ]
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