“When things in your life
seem almost too much to handle, When 24 hours in a day is not enough; remember
the mayonnaise jar and three beers.”
‘What are you talking about?’ I frowned
‘Life.’
‘Who’s life?’
‘Yours… and mine for that matter.’
‘What has life got to do with mayonnaise jars and
golf balls? I don’t even play golf.’
HP smiled and unfolded his tall gangly frame out of
the deep lounge chair,
‘Come with me to the kitchen.’
I got up and followed reluctantly, knowing I was
about to get another one of those life lessons he was so fond of giving. HP bent down and opened the bottom draw in
the unit next to the stove; it was where he kept all his odds and ends. I have
seen many a strange thing miraculously appear from the dark and dingy corners
of that draw. It has the reputation of being ‘possessed’ in some circles.
Looking back over his shoulder, he began the story,
he placed the empty jar and golf balls and small white potting pebbles on the
kitchen counter. He then opened the broom cupboard, took out a packet of sand,
and placed it with the rest of the things on the counter. He then walked to the
fridge and took out three beers, opened them, and placed them with the rest of
his things. I breathed a sigh of relief; at least we would not be going thirsty
through all this.
HP stood and surveyed the items before him like Capt. Gary Esper would have looked at the prospecting charts of his estimated three
billion dollar treasure find off the coat of Boston.
HP motioned with his chin that I pick up the empty
jar. Looking at him from under my eyebrows, I hesitated.
‘Go on, humour me.’
‘OK’
I picked up the jar and instinctively opened it and
placed it back on the counter in front of me. HP then took the golf balls and
placed them into the empty jar, until there was room for no more.
‘Tell me, is the jar full?’
Being cautious and knowing him as I did, I answered
carefully,
‘Yes, full of golf balls.’
He smiled and repeated slowly emphasising each word,
‘Is the Jar full?
‘Ok, yes it is.’
He then took the small white potting pebbles and
placed them in the jar shaking it gently, they filtered down between the golf
balls until they too reached the top of the jar.
Again, he asked, ‘Is the jar full?’
‘Yes’
HP now picked up the packet of sand and began to pour
the sand into the jar. After gently shaking it again the jar was now full to
the top for the third time.
‘Yeah Yeah’ I said before he could ask, ‘it is full,
again, so what’s your point?’
He then took one of the beers and poured that into
the jar as well the golden liquid flowed down between the balls, pebbles and
sand changing the colour of each item it encountered, on its way to the bottom
of the jar.
I looked at him and raised my shoulders a little
disappointed with the waste of a good beer.
HP responded, ‘The golf balls are the big important
things in your life, like God, family, children, health, friends and favourite
passions. Things that if everything else were lost or gone, and only they remained,
your life would still be full. ‘
Pointing at the pebbles, ‘these are things that
matter like you job house and car, the sand is everything else, or as it has
been put a million times the small stuff.’
‘Ok, I get that …’
He raised his hand, gesturing that I be quiet.
He continued,’ Tell me, if you had put the sand in
first would there have been place or room for the balls and pebbles?’
I looked at the jar, shook my head, and waited.
‘The same goes for life, fill it with the small
stuff and you will have no energy and room for the things that are important to
you and yours. So pay attention to the things that are critical to your
happiness. Learn to really know your God, spend quality time with your
children. Live a healthy life, pay attention to your partner, there will always
be time to clean the house, wipe the kitchen counters or fix the dripping tap.
I nodded understanding, and took one of the beers in
my hand,
‘And the beer,
what of it?’
He smiled, lifted the other beer and turned to leave
the kitchen, ‘Glad you asked, It just my way of saying that no matter how full
your life is one can always make room for a couple of beers with a friend, it
adds colour to your life, Let’s go watch the game…’
Thinking back now the story was not a new one but it
was relevant for where I was in my life at the time. .
'Take care of the things that really matter. Set
your priorities. The rest is just sand.'
