A lesson of Lessons … (01/01/13)
As his lecture began, a professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. He wordlessly picked up a very large and completely empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked his students, “So, is the jar full?”
Most agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of small pebbles and began pouring them into the jar. As he did so, he lightly shook the jar, and the pebbles easily flowed into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked his students, “Is the jar full now?”
They all nodded.
The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand easily filled up all the remaining space.
He then asked once more if the jar was full, at which the students responded with an enthusiastically unanimous “Yes!”
Finally, the professor brought two cups of tea from under the table and poured their entire contents into the jar, effectively and smoothly filling the empty space between all the grains of 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 life’s truly Important things — Loving your family, being Kind to strangers, Serving your community, Caring for your friends, and Forgiving your enemies. If everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be very full indeed.
The pebbles are the other not-nearly-so-important things that still matter — like your health, your job, your house, your car, and having fun.
The sand is everything else — the superficial possessions, as well as life’s difficult moments; “small stuff” that can be very irritating if we let them get into our eyes, and yet that are really not that important at all.”
“Now, if you put sand into the jar first,” he continued, “then there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls … and the same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy focusing on what annoys or frustrates or disappoints or angers you, you will never have room for the things that are truly Important.
So attend to the things that are critical to your true Happiness — and by that I do NOT mean the pebbles.
You are going to get sick, so focusing on your health is going to bring you disappointment. You are going to get bored or feel “down”, so clinging to fun is not going to help you either. And your possessions are all — every one of them — going to get old or break down or disappear, so attaching to having them will cause you to suffer as well.
No, enjoy those things while you have them, and yet don’t invest in them. Invest instead in life’s truly Important things:
Listen to your children.
Cook dinner for your parents.
Do anonymous Good Deeds for your friends.
Smile at, and say a nice word or two, to strangers.
Forgive those who have harmed you.
There will always be time to ‘fulfill obligations’ or ‘enjoy life’. So take care of your life’s golf balls. Care for others when you have the chance … and remember that the rest is just sand.”
There was a pause after he finished, and then one of the students raised her hand and inquired what the tea represented.
The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked … The tea reminds us all that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a cup of tea with a friend.”
;