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The important things in life

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches 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 professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.


He then asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

 

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – 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,” he continued “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 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.”

 

 

Positive Thinking

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate.

He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

 

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.

The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude.

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

 

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it!

You can’t be a positive person all of the time.

How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today.

You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’

I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it.



I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life.

I choose the positive side of life.”

 

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

 

“Yes it is,” Jerry said.

“Life is all about choices.

When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.”

 

I reflected on what Jerry said.

Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business.

We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.

While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination.

The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins.

Wanna see my scars?”

 

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied.

“Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die.

I chose to live.”

 

“Weren’t you scared?

Did you lose consciousness?”

I asked.

Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.

In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’

I knew I needed to take action.”

 

“What did you do?”

I asked.

 

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry.

“She asked if I was allergic to anything.

‘Yes,’ I replied.

 

 

A laconic answer

The Lacons lived in a part of Southern Greece called Laconia, and were known for the bravery and the simplicity of their life.

One of their rules was always to speak briefly, using no more words than were needed.

This was carried so far that to this day, a very short answer is often called laconic.

 

There was in Northern Greece a land called Macedonia, which was once ruled by a king named Philip.

Philip wanted to become master of all Greece.

He therefore collected a great army and conquered all Greece, until only Laconia remained unconquered.

Then he sent a letter to the brave Lacons saying: "If I invade your country, I will destroy your great city."

In a few days an answer came.

He found only one word written in it.

That word was "If'.

 

 


Date: 2016-04-22; view: 1188


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