The other night, as I was busily typing away at my computer, wondering where the day had gone, I opened an email that was forwarded to me by my wife from her computer. She has a way of finding these little stories and sending them to me from time to time. Perhaps she has realized that it is easier to communicate with me over the internet than in person. Who says my life has become ruled by my computer. In any event, the following story had a profound impact on me when I read it. It has now become one of my all-time favourites and I would ask you to cut it out and put it on your fridge or in your wallet where you can read it over and over again as a reminder to set your priorities right.

“A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks which were all about two inches in diameter, right up to the top. He than asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of small pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. The students laughed. He asked his students again if the jar was full? They agreed that yes, it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled up everything else.

“Now,” said the professor, “the jar is full.”

He then emptied the contents back on to the table and separated the rocks, the pebbles and the sand. Then he placed the sand back into the jar. Next he placed the pebbles back into the jar. Finally, he began to put the rocks back in one at a time. By the time he reached the top and had run out of room, he still had many of the rocks on the table.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed. The pebbles are the other things in your life that matter, but on a smaller scale. The pebbles represent things like your job, your house, your car and things like that. They are important to you but they can be replaced and are often replaced during the course of your life. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.”

The professor continued, “If you put the sand and the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff - material things - you will never have room for the things that are truly most important. Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the yard. Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just pebbles and sand.”

We often get so hung up on the sand and pebbles in life that we take the rocks for granted. Our days are filled with so many activities and events that we feel are important and critical, yet, in attempting to fill “our jars” with sand and pebbles, the rocks are often overlooked. When your partner suddenly asks for a divorce; when your children leave home; when your doctor informs you that you have a dreaded disease; when you find yourself all alone - only then do your realize how important these “rocks” were in your life and only then do you ask yourself why you didn’t spend more time taking care of the “rocks” instead of the sand and pebbles.

Let this little story be a reminder of how important it is to take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter in life. The rest is just sand and pebbles.