pebbles and sand story | Plain Talk and Ordinary Wisdom

I read this little story from Stephen’s site on Libero’s blog on StumbleUpon. It made me think how my days go and wonder if I have my priorities in order. ~~ (Photo taken from Microsoft Clipart)

PRIORITIES IN LIFE

(Author unknown)

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″ 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 and fix the disposal.

Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

Too often our days are driven by circumstances at hand dictating what our course of action should be. It’s usually not until life gives us a nudge – sometimes not so gentle – revealing what’s important. Just today, I was given one of those little nudges to take notice of what’s important.

My husband works for an auto parts store and was getting some parts off some shelves in the back when all of a sudden the whole 20’ row of shelves collapsed in on him. He didn’t have much time to react except to start to put his arm out and move a few steps back and think, “This is going to hurt”.

To his amazement the shelves and the parts all fell around his feet. The boxes on the floor next to him were dented in where some of the parts came down on them but he wasn’t bruised or scratched. It was a miracle how he wasn’t touched looking around at the pile of parts 1-2 ft high he had to climb over. On top of all that were the parts he was originally looking for with the order. Talk about divine intervention.

As I thought of how close he came to being hurt, I was reminded of priorities. He is certainly one of the rocks in my life.

Thank you angels for the times you keep us safe and look out for us even when we don’t notice. This time you had our attention on what’s important in our lives.