Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Set your priorities right!

Recently, I received this mail which, in a way, helped to get me back to my life.
Hope, you will love it..

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and 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 and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff."

"If you put the sand or pebbles into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the golf balls. The same goes for 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. Spend time with your parents.Visit with grandparents. Spend time with your friends. Take time to get medical checkups. Take someone out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked."
The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

Now, I know what I have to do! :-)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

loved it !!!

-kanchan

Anonymous said...

page linked. there you go...
http://my-pastiche.livejournal.com/

-kanchan

Unknown said...

Its really nice to read your blog.Keep it up buddy

Unknown said...

ये सब टू ठीक है but I really doubt if the modeling is flawless ..... or to say it in a more practical way .... if the modeling has taken reasonable assumptions and approximations.

Who decides which are the balls ... which are pebbles and what are the sand particles..... the same things represent balls and sand in different phases of life ..... and the same things represent diff objects in the same time but for different ppl ..... how to account for these dimensions ????

Madhusudan Sarda said...

@ Arpit
You are very correct, dude!
What I published there was a prototype of the complete idea in which I modelled the parameters for myself. I don't feel the need of calling them assumptions.

Of course, You will need to model the parameters for yourself. The human-psychology itself has so many dimensions that it is not realistic to account for all of them. I hope, you understand that.

Btw, I would be pleased to know the way you will be modelling them at this juncture of your life. I hope, you understand what I mean :D