Stories of Inspiration and Humor
In
the inspirational category...
FILLING THE JAR OF YOUR LIFE
A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items
in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise
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 student 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 - anything that is so important to you that if it
were lost, you would be nearly destroyed. 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
energy and time 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."
(Source unknown)
In
the humor category...
RESIGNATION
I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old
again. I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.
I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.
I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends
on a hot summer's day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple; When all you knew were colors,
multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because
you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care.
All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the
things that should make you worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want
to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities
of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
I want to live simple again.
I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork,
depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in
the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice,
peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.
So . . . here's my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit card bills and my 401K
statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss
this further, you'll have to catch me first, cause........ ......"Tag! You're
it."
(Source unknown)