Golf balls and Two Glasses of wine

A professor stood before his philosophy class with some items on his desk 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 golf balls.


He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.


The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.


The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'YES.'


The professor then produced two glasses of wine from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the 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 the important things; your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions; 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, and 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 golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the good things that are important to you.


Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18 holes. Do one more run down the ski slope.


There will always be time to clean the house and fix the cistern. Take care of the golf balls first; the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'


One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the wine represented.


The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of glasses of wine with a friend.'

...


This was sent to me by a friend, His timing was perfect... Recently things in my life have been very busy and it seems that sometimes life gets to be about the sand. From more than a thousand miles away he was able to tap me on the shoulder and point me in the right direction.

A few weeks after I recieved this nice reminder his wife came to visit the area for a couple of days. My wife and I took the opportunity to sit with her and some other friends for dinner and a nice bottle of wine on a perfect evening at a house on the beach here in Fairfield.

She told us that evening that her husband had been to the doctor and they found a lump. He has been diagnosed with cancer.

He didn't know at the time that he was about to find this out, sometimes things just happen that way. The good news is that the doctors think that they found it in time and are optimistic about treating him. Thank goodness

Now it is my turn to pay it forward. I hope that by posting this it will cause someone else to reaccess the golfballs and wine in their own life. For myself... I am looking forward to sharing time and a glass of wine with him at the end of the summer on our annual weekend together on Block Island.

Please share this with someone you care about.

Cheers

-Patrick