Rock, Pebbles, and Sand

A teacher places a glass jar on her table and faces her students. “This is your life,” she says.
“It is yours to fill with whatever you wish.”The teacher takes a bag of rocks and carefully places them one by one in the jar until it is full. “These rocks are the big important things in your life that you will be the most proud of at the end of your days.”The teacher then scoops out several handfuls of pebbles from a second bag and lets them fall into the jar, shaking the jar slightly so the pebbles fall into and fill the space between the rocks. “These are the secondary things in your life that gives it meaning, but perhaps are not ‘your life’s work’. The teacher then takes a third bag containing sand and pours it into the jar, filling the space between the pebbles. “Finally, the sand is the little stuff that fills our days, like watching TV or playing games.”The teacher looks out over her students and asks, “Can you see what would happen if I started with the sand or the pebbles?”