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Our
Weekly Letter
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Weekly Letters
Dear Friends,
School is quickly coming to a close. Some of you will be finished this week and most others within the next two weeks. Next week will be the conclusion of our regular weekly messages for the summer. I sometimes find something too good to not pass along, and will send a couple of these messages on for those who will have a summer E-mail address. If you have a home e-mail address different from your address at school, please let us know and we will add you for the summer.
I hope that you have finalized camp plans by now as many weeks and camps are at capacity. If not, please contact us right away so that we can work out a plan for your team.
I ran across an e-mail I received several months back that reminds us of balancing our time. Summer will fly past so quickly and we all have so many things to accomplish. This is a new angle on Time Management I think you will find interesting. (see below)
In the meantime, have a great week and as always, please stay in touch!
Joyce E. Pennington, Pres. CEO
American Dance/Drill Team
Subject: Time Management
One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.
As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz" and he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also 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 yelled, "Yes."
The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to 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 the jar and it went into all of 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 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 in 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, time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy 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? Then, put those in your jar first. |
