Lessons from Rocks, Pebbles, and Marbles
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group
of business students and, to drive home a point, used an
illustration those students will never forget.
As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered
overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he
pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it
on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen
fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time,
into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no
more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and
pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel
in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work
themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one
of them answered. "Good!" he replied.
He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of
sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all
the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more
he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!"
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it
in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up
at the class and asked, "What is the point of this
illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is,
no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really
hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The
truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put
the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Time with your
wife and children ? Your parents, your faith, your
education, your dreams? A worthy cause? Teaching or
mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in
first or you'll never get them in at all. --- So, ask
yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my
life or business? Then, be sure to put those in your
jar first.
- 0 -
A Pouch of Pebbles
Translated and told by JGS
Very early one morning, a fisherman went to the seashore with
his fishing net. As he was walking along the beach, he
stepped on something. With candid curiousity, he stooped and
picked up the object. It was a pouch of pebbles. Since no
one was around to claim ownership, he brought it with him.
When he got to his favorite spot, it was still dark so he put
the fishing net on the ground and sat down to wait for dawn.
The idleness was boring so he opened the pouch and began
throwing the pebbles one by one into the sea. It was fun
watching the small stones hit the water. He knew the current
below the surface would immediately suck them into the open sea.
A little while later, the first light of dawn hit the shore.
There was only one pebble left in the pouch. As he looked at
the last pebble which he was about to throw into the sea, a
sharp chill shot down his spine. A lump swelled in his throat
and he stopped breathing...
It was NOT a pebble. It was a jewel! He had a pouch of
jewels in his hand, and he had been throwing the precious
stones into the sea.
The jewels could make him the richest man in town, maybe even
in the whole countryside. With the jewels, he could have a
lifetime of princely extravagance and obscene comfort.
But now, he had only one jewel in his hand. The sea had
swallowed all other stones in the dark.
Our life is like a pouch of precious stones. Often, we come
to appreciate its incomparable value only when we have so
little left of it. We feel guilty and also sorry for
ourselves for having wasted it when we were younger and "in the
dark."
Now, we have only one jewel left in our hand. Make good use of
it.
- 0 -
Saturday Mornings and Marbles
By Bill Thomas
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday
mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that
comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's
the unbounded joy of not having to be at work.
Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday
morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the
basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee
in one hand and the morning paper in the other.
What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned
into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you
from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the
band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday
morning swap net.
Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap,
with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You
know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the
broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was
talking with something about "a thousand marbles."
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he
had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with
your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame
you have to be away from home and your family so
much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have
to work 60 or 70 hours a week to make ends
meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."
He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom,
something that has helped me keep a good perspective
on my own priorities."
And that's when he began to explain his theory of
a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little
arithmetic. The average person lives about
seventy-five years. I know, some live more
and some live less, but on average, folks
live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up
with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that
the average person has in their entire lifetime.
Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the
important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to
think about all this in any detail," he went on,
"and by that time I had lived through over
twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to
thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I
only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single
marble they had. I ended up having to visit three
toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them
home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic
container right here in the shack next to my gear.
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one
marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I
focused more on the really important things in life.
There is nothing like watching your time here on
this earth run out to help get your priorities
straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I
sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for
breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out
of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday
then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing
we can all use is a little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend
more time with your family, and I hope to meet you
again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is
K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when
this fellow signed off.
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had
planned to work on the antenna that morning,
and then I was going to meet up with a few hams
to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went
upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon
honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time
since we spent a Saturday together with the kids."
Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out?
I need to buy some marbles."
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND MAY ALL YOUR SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL!
Work like you don't need the money...
Love like you've never been hurt...
Dance like nobody's watching...
Sing like nobody can hear youE
-Author Unknown
Bill Thomas
"The Write Track"
©1999 Thomas Enterprises
Charter Member of IAPO
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