THINGS THAT MATTER [a moral story]

A professor in philosophy once stood in front of his class with some materials on the table in front of him, for illustrations. When the class finally began, the professor, without saying a word, picked up a very wide and empty jar and filled it with broken rocks, each roughly about 2 inches in diameter. Until the jar was filled with rock particles . He then asked the students if the jar was full. They all agreed and told the professor it was full. So the professor picked up a box filled with pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. This of course made the pebbles to roll into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. Once again, they all agreed it was full. The professor again, picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. And surely, the sand filled up every other tiny space in the jar. And once more, he asked his students if the jar was full. The students responded, "Yes."
"Now," said the professor, “I want you to know that this jar represents your life. The rocks represent the important things – your family members, 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 represent the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your vehicles. The sand is everything else. The small stuff." "If I had put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there would be 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/time for the things that are important to you. Always 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.”

What moral did you learn from the story?

The story was submitted by Oluwatobi Gideon.

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