Story: The Most Important Things in Life

What are the most important things in life? Let’s make it a some more personal; what is/are the most important thing(s) in your life? Life has its way of painting quite a lot of pictures for us, creating mirages; making us see what is not there and providing false representations of actual realities. I have heard quite a number of people say that most of us focus on the less important things in life, making them so important that the most important things eventually lose their value. This is all just an illusion to distract us and shift our focus.

I stumbled on a story that will help in shaping your perspective of what should be the most important things and the least important which should come after. Putting the later before the former will adversely affect our lives.

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 the remaining open areas of the jar.

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, or fix the disposal.”

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

Story curled from: http://academictips.org