It was a warm spring day at the college. The birds were singing, the grass on campus was the April perfect green, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of apple blossom.
That day the lecture hall was only about half-full. The dull roar of about 100 students talking and bantering filled the room before the bell rang and the professor walked in. The professor was a tall, slender man with soft white hair and a beard like Santa Claus. He wore khaki shorts, flip flops, and a flaming red button-down Hawaiian shirt.
When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. The students went completely quiet. He then asked them, “Is the jar full?” They agreed that it was.
The professor said, “No it’s not”. The class sat in silence.
He 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. Again, they said it was.
“No it’s not”.
Again, silence from the audience.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students roared with a unanimous “Yes it is!”
“No, it’s not” replied the professor.
The professor then produced two beers 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 friends, your health, your favorite endeavors – and if everything else was lost and only the golf balls 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 things that are important to you.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled warmly and said, “I’m glad you asked.” “The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers with a friend.”
The professor then lowered his glasses on his nose, raised one brow, and said, “Now, how many of you are filling your jar with sand instead of golf balls today?”
Good luck and have a good week.
Joe Still
2023.09.24
Cite
“It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.”
– Mark Twain