Golf Balls and Coffee

From Sweet

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When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.....

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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 into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or 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 children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. 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.'

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That is a great story, and it's the real version of it.

But my friend CBol rewrote it a while back and I think it would go well here.

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The Professor and His Balls

By Christobol
The way I remember it from college:

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 asked which jar, then argued that the jar didn’t really objectively exist, and resumed their paper football tournament.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles, which he always carried, and poured them into the jar.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They said his jar fixation was probably evidence of a repressed childhood memory involving Cher and a dolly llama.

Unphased, the professor next picked up a box of sand, which he also always carried, and which contributed to his poor posture, 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 a unanimous “Dude, enough with the jar! That jar is your mama.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from his left front pocket. This got the students’ attention. He poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed at him for wasting $11 worth of Starbucks.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life, not my mama. The golf balls are the important things: your family, your children, your health, your friends, your pot, you know, 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 into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or 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. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. 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. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

“Unless you just poured your coffee all over a sandy, golf ball, pebble jar on your desk!” she replied.

Another student suggested that, since he hadn’t mentioned class as even a member of the sand family, they all just head to a bar.

And that’s what they did.