We’ve all been seeing the story about the professor and the jar he fills with rocks, sand and water circulate e-mail and social media, right? If not click here to read this. The lesson that he teaches is about not letting the insignificant or troublesome areas (sand) fill your life therefore not allowing room for all the good (rocks). Now, I have more food for thought. A stranger once taught me an invaluable lesson on life. I’ll teach you this theory exactly as it was taught to me.
In life, you are basically playing a game of skill, a balancing act if you will. Picture this: you, holding a platter out, waitress style. Now add a series of balls on the platter. There are 3 different materials making 3 categories of balls. The first material and category is called rubber. If you were to drop this ball, what would happen? It would bounce right back. Not really a hardship or stress involved in dropping this one. Sure, it’s annoying that it wouldn’t balance properly on your platter, but in the grand scheme, it’s just that. So, what in your life would you label as rubber? For me it’s all those little Pinterest projects, my trips to Starbucks or household chores not pertinent to my family’s health and happiness; but things that I must balance nonetheless. I enjoy them, but if I drop it, I can pick it back up tomorrow. No harm done.
Now let’s look at category two, your steel balls. This one is a little tougher… If you drop steel it’s much harder to pick up. To start, it’s heavy. It takes energy, focus, and determination to pick up. Dropping steel is a much bigger burden. For me, this could be my monthly bills. They definitely weight me down, if I miss one I can be fined or worse, have services suspended. It causes stress and anxiety. But, I can get it back. I can always fix this problem by rearranging my platter and focusing on picking the steel back up.
Our final category is glass. Balancing a glass ball on a platter of rubber and steel balls is difficult. They are fragile. If glass falls it breaks. I can try my best to glue it, but it will never be the same. Dropping my glass causes heartache, frustration and bears heavy consequences. Can you ever really pick up the countless pieces of sharp daggers spread all over? Let’s be honest, they can be invisible, and so can the damage… Until you step on it. What are the glass balls in your life? Children? Work? Your marriage? You get my point.
As we step into a new year defining goals and ambitions, think of this: your platter is probably a great one; full and difficult to balance. As you prioritize, ask yourself, what are your rubber, steel, and glass balls? Adjust accordingly.
| Jessica is a proud mother of three – a 3 year old boy/tasmanian devil, a 7 year old daughter, and a thirties something husband (just joking Danny). I’m a homemaker, a life-long student and a business owner. I’m a native to Colorado and love to be out in all of the beautiful scenes that Colorado has to offer – whether by myself, with my family and/or with my camera |
