A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the remaining open areas of the jar.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party, or fix the disposal.”
“Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
Author Unknown
It’s my favorite story and it’s true of our life.
Yes, I do agree with u guys it’s a nice story…..But still the rock list includes also ur job and career…without a single penny these things are impossible, even if we think we can’t……
nice story…
Very nice, inspiring & guiding. It is very useful to youngsters.
The story made me aware of important things in life:) Thanks a million:)
Lovely…it’s awesome.
It is a good thought provoking story 4 today’s youth to begin life anew.
The stones symbolize mankind. So priority should be given to the people around us and be fruitful to them by sharing and caring for them.
This is so true =)
This is really awakening story for me. I have now come to realize that I must give priorities to the most important things for my life.:) Thank you with all my heart:)
Very good story. I learned something from the author.
It is a very nice story about life. Everyone should learn something from this story.
If every person learned from this, the world become happy, healthy & wealthy. Thanks
An awesome story with a great moral! Loved it..:)
Thank u for such wonderful stories!!! Now there are many stories here for me to read.
Good story…. sometimes we forget what actually matters in life….
This is my first moral story which today I read it. And I loved it because the author is trying to say in the human life the first thing which comes is family. After that all other thing will come.
By reading this story today I learned first the family comes then all the joyment will come. Thanks to the author for giving this kind of moral story. Thanks a lot.
The Authur is absolutely right, but it is very difficult to implement it in real life.,,Nowadays everything starts and ends up only with Money. Even if u want your parents ur life partner to be happy u need money………..I still want to say that money is not everything but money has much more power.
An awesome story with a great moral! Loved it..:)
Omg!!! That was amazing… Sometimes life is never easy because we start with the sand… then (Husband/Wife) people get upset…
Always start with the stones and peples… if you start in the hard way, the rest will be easier than anything in the world. ;-|
It’s a really good story that gives a wonderful information regarding to life for students and everyone.
Thanks to all repliers whose made this life story priceless. Thank to prof and repliers. God bless them all.
Every man should understand their responsibilities toward family first and the other thing is just a beauty of life (job, small stuff, wealth…)
Really a nice one!
I had learned from this story the real moral of life.
Heart touching story…. !!
It’s really very inspiring story. It reminds us once agen that family is the most important thing in this world.
Very touching stories. 🙂
We can pour water also in it
It’s really awesome. It gives a boost to our life.
This is the best example for our life to improve it.
Really it was nice and heart touching story.
It’s fundamentals of life every go like this the life will be happy and healthy.
Many people think money and power are more important than family, this story may help them.
You are absolutely right about your point, the family should be our first priority but as far as I am concerned, people today are much concerned about the pebbles and sand and when they come to know about the importance of the rocks, they are left with no where to fill, the jars are full…
The above story makes one lot of thinking. The ideas it conveys give one the importance of treating important things important and then trivial matters last. An instructive story.
Oh wow! What a story, I really liked it. Extremely important for so many people!
It is very inspirational, I will from now more concentrate on family thank u sir.
Nice website……..and wonderfull short stories.
It is really a wonderful story. It gives me the right perspective of our relation with others and things. Thanks a lot.
Excellent story…Thank you very much….These type of stories will be helpful for teenage to think and act…..
Really awesome…………. heart touching story……………….
It is a wonderful inspiration in life and we should follow it….
Very inspirational 🙂
Nice story
Superb! The story has a extraordinary value….. wonderful!!!
In life family is very important, you have to be there for better or worst. Also comunication and then by working hard together you will aciheve the rest.
Don’t forget God he fits anywhere most needed of all.
Thanks so much these stories are so inspiration.
It’s really eye opening story needed todays.
Very nice story. And my friend this is the most important thing we have to understand “Priority”.
Very true and impressive.
It’s an amazing story.
The stories available here are really inspiring and guiding. Such things are very important in life that someone can make you understand your mistakes and guide you the right way.
Excellent moral
Awesome!!!!!!!!
Thanks.
This Is Really a Great Story on which is most Important for our life.
It’s really true. Enjoy life and give happiness to loved ones, spend as much time.
Tip for everyone: learn from others when we do not see the road.
Some thing that pops in to my head is that most of human has forgotten alot of essential items in life like mother, father, friends and they exchanged it with fruitless stuff, like ever making an excuse such for going to party. Neeeeever worse?
But when the glass full of the three things mentioned falls, it will hurt more…
Timeless truth lesson thoughts…
Thank you very much for this site. This story really brings me back to reality.
The real fact is very important for todays generation who have all the time for materialistic life and luxury which is temporary. But have no time for family members who are life long.
Awesome story…. made me think for a few seconds…. I never thought this way before…
I have ample of time for other things which are less important… and so I ignore the important things in my life! But this story leads to a realization, that I consider is very important for leading a good life!!
I read the story, it was wonderful.
After reading the touching tale, I was super charged. Please continue posting, thank you for the leading.
It’s fact. If we cannot recognize & prioritize main things in life what we gain is only Sand.
I and reading this story has made me more determine of how much my family means to me as a mother. I have always loved my family even during time I was growing up with 8 siblings God was and still is my first rock may all have a room in yor hearth for him. Thank you for for such a lesson I am 65 married for 44 yrs never know enough. God bless.
That’s true.. we have to give importance to people not to things or money.. Nice story..
Fantastic, I liked it very much
I love this story, God bless the writer.
Good story for children. Clear vision example
Heart touching…
I believe that we should live our life the way we want, because nobody knows the truth about life.
So nice, it encouraged me a lot…
Reality of life.