Putting first things first

My Reiki Teacher Ang@ shared with me an excerpt from Stephen Covey's First things first. He describes a story that one of his associates experienced on a seminar.

In the middle of the lecture the presenter pulled out a wide-mouth jar and placed it on the table, aside to some fist-sized rocks.

"How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?" he asked the audience.

After the students made their guesses, the seminar leader said,

"Okay, let's find out." He put one rock in the jar, then another, then another--until no more rocks would fit. Then he asked, "Is the jar full?"

Everybody could see that not one more of the rocks would fit, so they said, "Yes."

"Not so fast," he cautioned. From under the table he lifted out a bucket of gravel, dumped it in the jar, and shook it. The gravel slid into all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Grinning, the seminar leader asked once more, "Is the jar full?"

A little wiser by now, the students responded, "Probably not."

"Good," the teacher said. Then he reached under the table to bring up a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar. While the students watched, the sand filled in the little spaces left by the rocks and gravel. Once more he looked at the class and said, "Now,
is the jar full?"

"No," everyone shouted back.

"Good!" said the seminar leader, who then grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it into the jar. He got a quart of water into that jar before he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the jar is now full. Can anybody tell me the lesson you can learn from this?"

An eager participant spoke up: "Well, there are gaps in your schedule. And if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life."

"No," the leader said. "That's not the point. The point is this: if I hadn't put those big rocks in first, I would never have gotten them in."

+++++++++++++++++++++++
The story made me think about my big rocks. What are they? And what should I put in first?

My beloved, my little one and my family of course. Then comes my quilting, my reading, my travelling and maybe even my writing. Self improvement also comes in first. I want to be the best person I can be, who is happy, contented and connected. Intellectual development and personal growth. And achieving my dreams and goals.

To have financial independence, to have the house of my dream, to travel all the time to different places, new and old, and to love and be loved. To be an inspiration to my child and at the same time have the capability to inspire her to be the best person she can be in her life. To support her to achieve her full potential.

And my darling, we didn't name you our hope for nothing. We hope that you will achieve better things than we can and go to places we haven't been, even if it is the moon.

I always want you to know that we love you and will always believe in you.


++++++++++++++++++++

I brought some wonderful books back from Dubai. Will have to blog about my Dubai trip at a later time. Although the trip was very short, I am very grateful that I have a wonderful and understanding DH who supports me in my interest.

I do digress. I am reading Weekend Life Coach by Lynda Field and oh boy, she is opening some doors for me.