Coffee Break

My intentions before starting this blog was to keep up on it regularly and keep my family and friends abreast of the happenings in my life. Since so much life happens and encompasses much of my time, this has always been a nice way to share with the masses what is going on. But it seems like more and more is piled on and less time is available for the things that I love.

I was recently shown a wonderful example of time and how I viewed my availabe time and how I used it.I was given a jar...a BIG jar; Like the supersized glass jars that pickles come from that you purchase at Sams Club. I was then given several different shapes and colours of balls. Those balls were to represent all the people, activities and duties that comsume my time. I was asked to name each ball, with each ball representing simething or someone that consumed my time. My first thought was " the golf balls (being the biggest) will represent my family because they are the biggest." I then thought to my self, " Crap! That is 7 balls, that will take up more than half of my jar." Needless to say, I chose the golf balls, wrote each of my children and my husbands name on each one and placed them into the jar.

I continued to choose different balls, labeling them with different time robbers on them; school, work, Rehab business start up, housework, tea party group, kids activities. My jar was almost full and I still had balls that I needed to put in. What about my friends, they were in my hand...what ball did I take out to make them fit? Or what about exersize, that is important to me too, what can I remove to fit in exersize? I was not allowed a bigger jar, this is the jar I was given and I needed to make what I had work in that jar work.

As I looked around I saw that many of the others around me were having the same difficulty as I was. Joking, I threw the ball across the room and said, "goodbye my friends!" The others laughed, but then realized that they too had left out their friends...ALL of us had left out our friends.

Are our friends important to us? Of course they are! Why then were they not one of the first balls to go in the jar? The instructor then asked us if we had more room in our jar. All discouraged replied No.

She then replied, "Of course you do." She then pulled out a pot of coffee and poured it into my jar of balls, and filled the "empty" spaces surounding my balls. WOW...I didn't realize all that room I had. She then said to the group, there is always room for coffee with a friend.

What an important lesson that was for me.Friends are so important in ones life, more than we anticipate sometimes. Many of my friends are my family. Family isn't always blood, it is also what you choose it to be. My jar is still not full without them and I would feel empty without them. They too are a priority, they will fit in your jar no matter how full it seems. Although I don't drink coffee, I will always remember that I have time for "coffee" with a friend! Go have some with yours!