The Big Rocks in our Life

"One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. To drive home a point, he used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, "Okay, it is time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." The management expert asked, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. At this point he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"


"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."


What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Your children; Your loved ones; Your education; Your dreams; A worthy cause; Teaching or mentoring others; Doing things that you love; Time for yourself; Your health; Your significant other. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you worry about that don't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks).


So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first. Don't forget God!"

                                                                                                                                    Author Unknown

As I get older, I feel like the days, months and years are just flying by. I remember as a little girl how long the time seemed to take from my birthday in July to Christmas. Now, the time just zooms from one holiday to the next. We are more than half way into 2015. Soon, we will be getting ready for Christmas.

Just as the days are flying by, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish all the tasks that need to be completed. Today was one of those rare days that I had the house all to myself. What did I do? The first thing I did this morning was to write myself a "to do" list. Seriously? I have a day all to myself and I assign myself a dozen boring tasks: go to Home Depot, clean out the kitchen, finish the paper work, bake a banana bread (well, at least this last one wasn't boring). But the point of the matter is that on this day off, I should have gone to lunch with a friend, or I should have booked a massage, or I should have read a good book, or...  But if I had done any of those things, I would have felt guilty because the boring things needed to be done sooner or later.

All that boring little stuff (the gravel, the sand) tends to fill our days so much that we forget the important things. We forget the BIG ROCKS. And even though, sometimes we don't have a choice but to take care of the gravel, the sand and the water, if we fill our days with them, we will not leave room for the rocks. And at the end of the day, it's the rocks that bring meaning to our life.

And therefore, after spending the day running around crossing items off my "to do" list, I finally made time to do the one thing that brings joy to my heart and yet, it was not written on my pad. I am praying, meditating and sharing my journal with all of you.

Have a blessed rest of the weekend and I hope it's full of rocks.