A good thing to remember...

When things in your lives 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 an 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--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. Take time to get medical check-ups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and do all the odd jobs. 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.'

Small Time Crooks

Broadband

Pleased to report that the setting up of my Broadband service has now been completed, and normal service has been restored. I really appreciate now how technology has advanced over recent years. Good to have everything back in place. Oh how I'll miss dial-up!

Normal service will be resumed...

Pleased to report that I'm now nicely settled into my new home - boxes unpacked and nearly everything sorted. Managed to get the TV licence and the gas & electricity account transferred across and my new BT phone line set up. Just waiting for AOL to transfer my broadband service. I find it amazing that it can, in this technological age, still take up to 20 days for the broadband to be reconnected. It's strange to think that I used to find dial-up speeds acceptable, albeit frustrating at times. Nowadays, having got used to the immediate page loading provided by broadband, I find the dial-up service painfully slow. It's therefore impractical to try and load up pictures etc onto the Blog. Normal service will be resumed shortly!