Psychology lecturer.... In silence his tired class
seated themselves, last lesson on a hot summer buzzy afternoon. When
they were all settled, from below a cloth covered table he produced a
pint glass full of golf balls... Looking at his class he asked "Is this full?" "Yeah!" came the yawning replies. The
lecturer produced a cup of pebbles and poured them into the glass,
giving it a shake to settle the contents until it was full to the
brim.... Again looking to his students "Is this now full?" "Yep!" came the reply. From
below the table he got a cup of sand and poured it into the glass,
once again shaking it to settle the contents until finally it was full
to the top…. Glancing upwards to his class with a beaming smile he asked again “Now is it full?” “Yes!” came the reply….. The lecturer then produced 2 glasses of wine from below the table and poured them into the glass. “Now is it full?” “Yes!” came the admiring reply…. The
lecturer went on to explain that the glass is your life. The golf
balls are the important things in life, your family and the people close
to you. The pebbles are the less important stuff, the bills that have
to be paid, the job you have to work at. Everything else is just sand. He
further explained that if you get them in the wrong order, you will
never fit them in the glass no matter how much shaking and settling you
try. Put the sand first and you’ll never fit in the golf balls…… With
that he started to put away his props and declared that the lesson for
the day was over – For his students to go home and put their glasses
in order…. No one moved and again he clarified that “Class was over!” “What was the wine supposed to be then?” asked one of the more adventurous students. “Thank you for asking!” replied the relieved lecturer. “It shows us that it no matter how full your life appears to be, there is always room for a drink with a friend”