One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, okay, time for a quiz, and he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.
He also 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 yelled, Yes.
The time management expert replied, Really!
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
He then 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, well.
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.
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 is, this illustration teaches us that 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, time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others Remember to put these 'big rocks' in first or you'll never get them in at all. 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 and then, put those in your jar first.
Showing posts with label Relationship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Relationship. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
What matter the most to you?
The Long Wait
A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 years old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?" "Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man. "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?" "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily. "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy. "If you must know, I make $20 an hour." "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down, looking up, he said, "Dad, may I please borrow $10?"
Angry Reaction
The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday and don't have time for this childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
React Differently On Second Thought
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn't ask for money very often.
The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked. "No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy. "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man. "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
Angry Again
The man seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
Understand The Message From This Story
This is just a reminder to all of us who are working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent sometime with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $20 worth of your time with someone you love.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 years old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?" "Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man. "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?" "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily. "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy. "If you must know, I make $20 an hour." "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down, looking up, he said, "Dad, may I please borrow $10?"
Angry Reaction
The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday and don't have time for this childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
React Differently On Second Thought
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn't ask for money very often.
The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked. "No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy. "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man. "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
Angry Again
The man seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
Understand The Message From This Story
This is just a reminder to all of us who are working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent sometime with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $20 worth of your time with someone you love.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
What will matter
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no days, no hours or minutes. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
Your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will all expire too. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Your gender, skin color, ethnicity will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage and sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories of those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
Remember:
** Everything that has a beginning has an end.. **
** The most important things in life are not "things". **
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bhagavad-Gita Saar (भगवद गीता सार) ...the ultimate essence of life
Whatever happened, it happened for good.
Whatever is happening, is happening for good.
Whatever that will happen, it will be for good.
What have you lost for which you cry?
What did you bring with you, which you have lost?
What did you produce, which has destroyed?
You did not bring anything when you were born.
Whatever you have, you have received from Him.
Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.
You came empty handed and you will go the same way.
Whatever is yours today was somebody else’s yesterday and will be somebody else’s tomorrow.
Change is the law of the universe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.”
Albert Einstein
(1879 -1955)
To myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble, or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
Isaac Newton
(1642-1727)
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
Your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will all expire too. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Your gender, skin color, ethnicity will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage and sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories of those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
Remember:
** Everything that has a beginning has an end.. **
** The most important things in life are not "things". **
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bhagavad-Gita Saar (भगवद गीता सार) ...the ultimate essence of lifeWhatever happened, it happened for good.
Whatever is happening, is happening for good.
Whatever that will happen, it will be for good.
What have you lost for which you cry?
What did you bring with you, which you have lost?
What did you produce, which has destroyed?
You did not bring anything when you were born.
Whatever you have, you have received from Him.
Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.
You came empty handed and you will go the same way.
Whatever is yours today was somebody else’s yesterday and will be somebody else’s tomorrow.
Change is the law of the universe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.”
Albert Einstein
(1879 -1955)
To myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble, or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
Isaac Newton
(1642-1727)
Friday, January 18, 2008
Hold my Hand
A little girl and her father were crossing a flimsy bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter: "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river."
And the little girl said,"No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?" asked the puzzled father.
"There is a big difference," replied the little girl. "Dad, if I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go."
"But, if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."
In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind but in its bond. So allow the Lord to hold on to you today and he will never let you go!
And the little girl said,"No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?" asked the puzzled father.
"There is a big difference," replied the little girl. "Dad, if I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go."
"But, if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."
In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind but in its bond. So allow the Lord to hold on to you today and he will never let you go!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
