Steven Covey taught that life was like a jar. We have many things we want to do with our time or fill up our jar with. The way he went about the lesson was by putting as many big rocks in the jar as he could fit. He asked a class if the jar was full. They responded that it was. He took out a bucket of gravel and poured it in to the top. He again asked if it was full. Catching on, they said they weren’t sure. He took out a bucket of sand and then filled in the cracks between the big rocks and the gravel. The jar seemed absolutely full. Until he pulled out a bucket of water and filled the jar with as much as it could hold.
The point he makes is that your life is going to be filled to the brim. He stresses the importance of getting the big rocks in first. If you do not put the big rocks in before the gravel or sand or water, they will never make it in. This is indeed true. If you don’t schedule your work hours before your facebook time, you will soon be out of a job.
I would like to entertain a different thought. This thought being that we sometimes forget what our big rocks should be. If I were to venture a guess, many would start listing the big rocks as being work, family, responsibilities, chores, errands, etc. As I struggle with this myself and watch others who do also, we have mistaken for big rocks what should be gravel, or sand or water.
Just one for instance. Career seems to be the first big rock for so many. Really? The fifty-ish hours spent working for the companies bottom line is the first big rock? Now certainly, an income must be earned but I’m certain that my wife, my children and my God would take issue with such prioritization.
Joel Stiff's Adventure 