Mayonnaise Jar

 I am scheduled to speak to some humans eager to become adults. I wish I could just be bland and tell them how big a scam adulting is, but for the sake of their innocence and just the way the world is set up, I’ll just lie to them a little to give them hope. Who knows, maybe they will make better individuals than we ever did? So I am not about to dim their lights.

As I scrolled through the interwebs to find something to tell them, I remembered a story I read when I was little. Young me loved reading. I would read literally anything. I just loved knowing stuff just for the sake of it. That has reduced now. I struggle to finish a chapter in the good book. I have a book I bought a few months back and I have hardly done twenty pages. I will improve. That will be my goal from now forward -  to start a book and finish it. And not just finish but in as little time as possible. Are you a book lover yourself? If not, you can start with me.

Anyway, I found this story called ‘the mayonnaise jar and the golf balls’ It’s about prioritizing what’s important in life. I loved it when I was 12 and probably my little audience of an average age of 14 will love it too. How about my audience here? Well, I’ll let you in on the story and let's see if you will love it.

One professor when his philosophy class started took a large mayonnaise jar and filled it with golf balls, he then asked his students if the jar was full to which they all said yes. Then he picked a box of pebbles and poured in and they found the little pockets of space between the golf balls. When asked the class said now the jar was full. He then took a bowl full of sand and poured in to which the class unanimously agreed that the jar was now full. He then took two cups of coffee and poured in, everyone burst out laughing.

He then proceeded to tell them what each item meant. The jar is your life, the golf balls the important things in life, the pebbles were other important things in life and the sand the small stuff.

If you fill your life with sand, then you won’t have space for the golf balls and the pebbles. If you spend all your time and energy on small stuff, you’ll never have room for those that are really important to you. Take care of the golf balls first. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. There will always be space for the sand.

Wondering what the coffee was for a student raised her hand to which the prof said no matter how full your life may seem, there will always be room for a cup of coffee with a friend.

Now the kids will hear this in a few days’ time and I hope it changes their life. But now that you have already heard it, start making the right changes. Start prioritizing.