Ode To Joy - Big Rocks First

A few months ago I was feeling very stressed. I had way too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. I was so overwhelmed one day that I just sat down and wondered what I was going to do. Then I remembered a story I had heard once. I immediately got on the computer and googled it. I found the story told by Stephen R. Covey. Here it is:

In the book “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, next to some fist-sized rocks.

After filling the jar to the top with rocks he asked, “Is the jar full?”
People could see that no more rocks would fit, so they replied, “Yes!”

“Not so fast,” he cautioned. He then got some gravel from under the table and added it to the jar, filling the spaces between the rocks. Again, he asked, “Is the jar full?”
This time the students replied “Probably not.”

The presenter then reached for a bucket of sand below the table, and dumped it in the jar, filling the spaces between the rocks and the gravel. Once again he asked “Is the jar full?”
“No!”, the students shouted.

Finally, he grabbed a pitcher of water and filled the jar completely, asking to the public what they could learn from that illustration.

One of the participants answered, “If you work at it, you can always fit more into your life.”

“No,” said the presenter. “The point is, if I hadn't put the big rocks in first. . . I would never have gotten them in.”

This story really helped me when I read it. I was trying to do too many little things. I wasn't making sure my "Big Rocks" made it into the jar first. I remembered this story today, as I was thinking about the new year that will begin in just a few days. I need to sit down and make a list of my big rocks. The things that are the most important to me. I need to schedule my time so that I make sure I get all those things in first, before all the little filler things that sometimes seem to dominate my life. Some of those things are my husband, my children, personal prayer, personal scripture study, temple attendance.

As the new year approaches, take a few minutes to write down your "Big Rocks" and make a plan for your life so that you can make sure they find their way into your jar.