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A Mayonnaise Jar and Two Beers
 

(When 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the two  beers...)

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 beers 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--- 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 .
Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents.     
Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18 holes of golf.

There will always be time to clean the house, fix the disposal or
deal with things from your job. 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
beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'    

The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers with a friend.
  

from Chuck Weber (LTjg 76-77)
 
Comments... there are always comments:
 
But if you put the beer in first, the other stuff will float, and that makes it all so much easier to handle!

That doesn't sound like a philosophy professor to me. At all.

Yeah, more like materials science.

For you see students, life is like concrete. The golf balls are the rocks, the pebbles the sand, the sand the portland cement, and the beer the water.

This version has coffee in it, not beer. It appears this crap's been rewritten by a partier.

That doesn't sound like a philosophy professor to me. At all.
Can you re-write it from the point of view of a typical philosophy prof?

Even though I've clicked on this before, everytime I see the thread title I expect it to be something much more interesting. I'm not sure what exactly, I just think a mayonnaise jar and a couple of beers have a lot more potential.

Can you re-write it from the point of view of a typical philosophy prof?
Well first you would have to ponder whether the mayonnaise jar actually exists...

OK...confession time...

I actually kinda like this illustration and I have used it in the past with teens (minus the beer). I dunno, even though it's glurgy, I have to agree with the principle of the message.

What this story teaches me is that I should never have a beer with a philosophy professor, or at least check his pockets for jars first. Damn beer waster... and he wanted to endear himself to students??

I realize this is a ridiculous thing to be thinking about, but what would he do with the jars afterwards? Throw them out? Clean them and the balls? That would suck. All that beer-dampened sand. Be an awful mess. Perhaps I over-think things.

I realize this is a ridiculous thing to be thinking about, but what would he do with the jars afterwards? Throw them out? Clean them and the balls? That would suck. All that beer-dampened sand. Be an awful mess. Perhaps I over-think things.
Nah, UNDERthinking it, of course.

He'd tie one of the jars to a railroad track. And then tie the other jar to an adjacent track. A train is coming toward the first jar. There is a junction via which the train could switch tracks, heading toward the second one instead. The first jar has a husband and six kids. The second jar is single, but is the founder of the world's largest philanthropic organization in history.

Was he using the same sort of beer in each jar?

And what kind of mayonnaise? I can imagine some brands working pretty well with a hint of beer. Aley mayo would go well with winter salads.

Was he using the same sort of beer in each jar?
impossible, the one is a husband with 6 kids, the other is single... obviously the husband with 6 kids has to have the cheapest beer... the single man would more likely have the good beer in it...

that is unless the single jar liked horrible beer...

... anyway - the whole thing is a terrible waste of beer, IMO.

Aww, I misread. I thought this was going to be about two bees in a jar.

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