Subject: Good Illustration

 A while back I was reading about an expert on subject of time
 management. One day this expert was speaking to a group of  business
 students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students
 will never forget.

 As this man stood in front of the group of  high-powered overachievers
 he said, "Okay, time for a  quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon,
 wide-mouthed mason  jar and set it on a table in front of him.  Then he
 produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully  placed them, one
 at a time, into the jar.  When the jar was filled to the top and no more
 rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"

 Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

 Then he said, "Really?"  He reached under the table  and pulled out a
 bucket of gravel.  Then he dumped  some gravel in and shook  the jar
 causing pieces of  gravel to work themselves down into the spaces
 between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar
 full?"

 By this time the class was onto him.  "Probably not,"  one of them
 answered.

 "Good!"  he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket
 of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into  all the spaces
 left between the rocks and the gravel.  Once more he asked the question,
 "Is this jar full?"

 "No!"  the class shouted.

 Once again he said, "Good!"  Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and
 began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the
 brim. Then he looked  up at the class and asked, "What is the point of
 this illustration?"

 One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how
 full your schedule is, if you try really  hard, you can always fit some
 more things into it!"

 "No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point.  The  truth this
 illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the  big rocks in first,
 you'll never get them in at all."

 What are the 'big rocks' in your life?  A project that  YOU want to
 accomplish?  Time with your loved ones?  Your faith, your education,
 your finances?  A cause?  Teaching or mentoring others?  Remember to put
 these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. - So,
 tonight or in the morning when you are reflecting on this short story,
 ask yourself this question: What are  the 'big rocks' in my life or
 business? Then, put those in your jar first.

 Harold W. N. Young