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I spent a lot of time with family and friends over
the summer and enjoyed every minute of it. I recently received
the following from one of them, and I wanted to share it with my
CAWEE friends as I truly believe this philosophy
The Rock
A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items
in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked
up a large empty mason jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks,
rocks about 2" in diameter. He then asked the students
if the jar was full?
They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them
into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles,
of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He
then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was. The students laughed.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
"Now", said the professor, "I want you to recognize
that this is your life. The rocks are the important things
- your family, your partner, your health, your children, your friends
- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained,
your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things
that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand
is everything else, the small stuff. If you put the sand into
the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The
same goes for your 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.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to
work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.
"But then...a student took the jar that the other students
and professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a glass
of wine. Of course the wine filled the remaining spaces within the
jar making the jar truly full.
The moral of this tale is: no matter how full your life is,
there is always room for a little wine.
I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and as we get back into our
hectic schedules, let’s all remember to make time for life's
important things.
________________________
Warm regards,
Kathryn Quirke
CAWEE President
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