Inspiring Thoughts
Uplifting & Empowering Messages
“Happiness must be cultivated. It is like character. It is not a thing to be safely let alone for a moment, or it will run to weeds.” Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844-1911), Writer
“What we think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the right question.”Jonas Salk (1914-1995), Physician & Medical Researcher
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things: God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions and 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 and 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 golf balls. The same goes for 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. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first: the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad! you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”
Musician Jim Morrison (1943-1971) once pointed out the irony of coming to terms with the things that upset us most: “When you make your peace with authority, you become authority.”(found in Bits & Pieces; www.motivateandinspire.com)
“Achieving goals by themselves will never make us happy in the long term; it’s who you become, as you overcome the obstacles necessary to achieve your goals, that can give you the deepest and most long-lasting sense of fulfillment.” Anthony Robbins, Motivational Speaker
ONE MAN AWAKE
One man awake can awaken another
the second can wake his next-door brother
the three awake can rouse the town by turning the whole place upside down
and the many awake make such a fuss they finally awaken the rest of us
One man up with the dawn in his eyes
Multiplies
~Helen Kramer~
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It never was between you and them anyway.
~Mother Teresa~
“Probably the most honest, ‘self-made man’ ever was the one we heard say: ‘I got to the top the hard way – fighting my own laziness and ignorance every step of the way.'” James Thom
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