''source''
A Philosophy professor one day he picked up a large empty jar and proceeded
to fill it with small rocks. He then asked his students if the jar was
full? They unanimously agreed that the jar was full.
So 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 his students again if the jar was full. Again,
they unanimously agreed that the jar was full.
Then the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of
course, the sand filled up everything else.
"Now," the professor said, "I want
you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things:
your family, your partner, your friends, your health, your children, and 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. If you put the sand into the jar first, 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."
