When things in your life become more and more difficult, when 24 hours a day are not enough, remember the “flower pot and the beer”. A little anecdote about the important things in life.
The story
A professor was standing in front of his philosophy class with some objects in front of him. When class began, he wordlessly took a very large flower pot and began filling it with golf balls. He asked the students if the pot was now full. They answered in the affirmative.
Then the professor took a container of small pebbles and poured them into the pot. He moved the pot gently and the pebbles rolled into the empty spaces between the golf balls. Then he asked the students again if the pot was now full. They agreed it was.
The professor next took a can of sand and poured it into the pot. Of course, the sand filled the smallest remaining empty space. He again asked if the pot was now full.The students unanimously answered “yes.”
Then the professor pulled two cans of beer out from under the table and poured the entire contents into the pot, filling the last space between the grains of sand. The students laughed.
The lesson of history
“Now,” the professor said as the laughter slowly subsided, “I want you to think of this pot as the representation of your life.
The golf balls are the important things in your life: Your family, your children, your health, your friends, the favorite, even passionate aspects of your life, which if everything in your life were lost and only these remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles symbolize the other things in life like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the little things. If you put the sand in the pot first,” the professor continued, “it won’t have room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same is true for your life.
- If you invest all your time and energy in little things, you’ll never have room for the important things.
- Pay attention to the things that threaten your happiness.
- Play with the children. Make time for a medical checkup. Take your partner out to dinner. There will still be time to clean the house or do chores.
- Pay attention to the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
And the beer?
One of the students raised his hand and wanted to know what the beer was supposed to represent. The professor smirked, “I’m glad you asked that. It’s there to show you that no matter how difficult your life may be, there’s always room for a beer or two.”
