There is a great story of a philosophy teacher who presented a question to his class. He had a large jar and a pile of rocks. As he placed the large rocks into the jar he asked his students to let him know when the jar was full. As the rocks reached the rim, the class said the jar was full.
"Really?" he asked. Then he pulled out a bag of pebbles and started to pour them in and they took up the spaces between the large rocks. "Is the jar full now?" They agreed that it was.
"Really?" he said again. Then he pulled out a bag of sand and proceeded to pour the sand in as it seeped into the cracks between the rocks and pebbles filling the jar from the bottom to the top.
"Class, what is the moral of the story?"
"I know!" an enthusiastic student responded. "No matter how full your life seems, you can always add more."
"Not really. You see, if you were to put the sand in first, then the pebbles, then the rocks it all would not fit in the jar. The jar is each day we wake up to. The rocks are the things that are the most important to our lives. They are the things that, if all else was lost, we would still be able to go on: our faith, family, children, health. The pebbles are the smaller things that are important to us: our job, house, car, hobbies. The sand is everything else. If we put the sand in first, there is no room for the most important things. Choose each day to put the big things first."
*Author Unknown
*Author Unknown
Ahhhhh! Am I choosing to put the big things first? Honestly, no. I am the queen of filling my time with the sand and by the end of the day; I'm frustrated that the rocks didn't get their fair place at the center of my life.
This blog will chronicle my challenge to put the first things first in my life and along the way kicking some of the sand out! You are invited to join me on this journey either as an observer or as one who takes the challenge along with me. Are you ready to put your big girl panties and get going? Let's get to work!
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