Lessons In Life

This story circulates around every year and I love it more every single time I read it.  Today, while I was feeling a little low, it came across my path.  I read it and found myself filled with a new resolve to do better in life.    I decided to share the story with you because I thought there may be some of you out there who need it...just like I did.  I have no clue who wrote it....but, I hope you enjoy it.

"This is a very important life lesson that a philosophy teacher taught his students. The teacher cleared off his desk and placed on top of it a few items. One of the items was an empty mason jar. He proceeded to fill up the jar with golf balls until he could fit no more. He looked at the classroom and asked his students if they agree that the jar is full. Every student agreed that the jar was indeed full. The teacher then picked up a box of small pebbles and poured them into the jar with the golf balls. The pebbles filled all of the openings in between the golf balls. He asked the students if the jar was full. Once again, they agreed. Now the teacher picked up a bag of sand and poured it into the mason jar. The sand filled in all of the empty space left between the golf balls and pebbles. He asked the class again if the jar was full. The students agreed it was technically full. Finally, the teacher pulled out two cups of coffee from under his desk and poured both of them into the jar filling the empty space between the sand. Now the students began to laugh wondering how far this was going. The teacher waited until the laughter stopped. "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life," he started. "The golf balls represent the important things. Your family, children, health, friends, and passions. If everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles represent the other things in life that matter, such as your job, house and car. The sand---that is everything else. The small stuff. If you put the sand in first, there is no room for the pebbles or golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all of your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are most important. Pay attention to the important things in your life. Enjoy time with family. Go to dinner with your spouse. Play games with your kids. There will ALWAYS be time to clean the house or take yourself shopping. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. The rest is just sand. You are dismissed." Before the students left, one shouted out. "You never mentioned what the coffee represents!"  The professor smiled and said, "Well I'm glad you asked. The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room to have a cup of coffee with a friend."

A Lesson Learned

I heard the cutest story yesterday and had to share it with you.  As a teacher you will appreciate it....as a parent....you will get a charge out of it.  It seems it was Teacher Appreciation Day at a certain Elementary School and all the children had brought the teacher a gift. (You can tell here that this is about little children...by the time kids get to high school they don't bring gifts.) Anyways, back to my story.  The teacher of the class sat at her desk and the little children lined up to bring their surprises.  The first little boy handed the teacher a beautifully wrapped box.  The teacher was excited because she knew that the little boys dad ran a candy store down town.  As she opened the box she was delighted to find a lovely box of chocolates from all over the world.  She hugged the little boy and turned to the next child.  A sweet faced little girl came forth with another beautifull wrapped box.  The teacher was so excited.  This child's parents ran a local florist and sure enough when the teacher opened the floral box there were a dozen long stemmed American beauty roses for her.  She smiled, expressed her delight, hugged the child and turned to the next child.  He stepped forward with the most beautifully wrapped present she had ever seen.  She was really excited because his father ran the local liquor store.  On one corner of the outside of the box was something wet.  The teacher touched the wet spot and stuck them in her mouth.  She said, "Champagne?"  The little boy shook his head no.  She touched the spot again, tasted her fingers and said, "Merlot?"  The little boy again shook his head no.  She repeated the process one more time and said, "Zinfindel?"  The little boy smiled and said, "No teacher....it is a puppy!"  Don't you wish you could have been a fly on the wall and seen that teachers face?  I learned from this story....never taste wet spots on the side of box.  What did you learn?  Have a wonderful Thursday!

1144 Marbles Left and Counting

I got an email this week from a fellow teacher and it really made me feel strange. I am 53 years old and enjoy my life. Since my parents have been living with us Frank and I have taken Saturdays for our date days and I love spending time with just him away from all the distractions. But after reading this email it truly made me see just how important my time with family and friends is. I want to prompt you to think just how important it is to you?
" The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it: I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part... It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear." "Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.""Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time." "It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!" You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on? " she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles..." Well I got out the old trusty calculator and did the math. I have already spent up 53 years worth of Saturdays so I am only looking at around 1144 left. This weekend Frank and I are going to B'ham on our date. I had planned to go to K.B. toys to do some Christmas shopping....but I now have another item on my agenda. I am going to buy some marbles. I don't want my life to be full of regret. I want to know that every moment counted for something and that the people I love know that they were loved by me. I also want to go out of this life....sliding into heaven saying, "Whew, What a ride!" Now, that is the way to use your marbles. Don't you think? Until tomorrow....here's hoping you enjoy the moment! K