Every day we are bombarded with bad news about events that could alter our lives.
I remembered a management seminar at Harvard University. One of the sessions focused on stress management.
The speaker told us about a jar of mayonnaise and two cups of coffee. He took a large empty mayonnaise jar and filled it with golf balls. He then picked up a small bucket of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar and the pebbles filled the holes between the golf balls.
Then he picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand has filled the remaining space in the jar. He then poured the two cups of coffee into the pot filling the space around the sand. He told us to consider the jar as our life.
Golf balls represent the important things – family, children and health – which, if all else was lost, our lives would still be full. The pebbles represented our jobs, our house and our car. The sand, everything else, the little things.
If we put the sand in the jar first, there would be no room for golf balls or pebbles. We increase our stress if we spend all our time on the little things at the risk of ignoring the things that are important to us.
Coffee reminds us that despite the challenges we face, we should always have time for a cup of coffee with a friend.
James M. Edwards Sr.
Township of Richland
