By Paulo Coelho
The teacher placed a large glass jar on the table.
Then out of a bag he took ten stones, each the size of an orange, and began placing them, one by one, in the jar.
When the jar was filled to the brim with stones, he asked his students:
‘Is it full?’
They all agreed that it was. The teacher, however, took some gravel from another bag and by jiggling the large stones around inside the jar, managed to fit in quite a lot of gravel.
‘Is it full now?’
The students said, yes, this time it was definitely full. At that point, the teacher opened a third bag, this time full of fine sand, and he began to pour it into the jar. The sand filled up any empty spaces between the large stones and the gravel, right up to the top.
‘Right,’ said the teacher. ‘Now the jar is full. What do you think I’ve been trying to demonstrate to you?’
‘That it doesn’t matter how busy you are, there’s always room to fit in something else,’ said one student.
‘Not at all. What this little demonstration shows us is that we have to put the large stones in first because, afterwards, they won’t fit.
Now what are the important things in our lives? What are the plans we postpone, the adventures we never have, the loves we fail to fight for? Ask which are the large, solid stones that keep God’s flame alive in you and put them into your jar of decisions now, because very soon there will be no room for them.’
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Very well said.xoxo
It is 2 o’clock in morning, I am sitting in my small apartment somewhere in Greece and I am reading this beautiful story. It reminded me of the times I just want to stop right there in the classroom (I am an english teacher) and try to talk and understand why children carry so much anger in them today…
Maybe it is what the story says. We all try to fit in so many things in our lives and in the end we end up missing everything. My great grandmother (95years old) says one can not hold two watermelons with one hand!
Maybe that unger I see in my students today comes from the same source…maybe we know we ought to stop and think about our lives but we keep saying to ourselves…”ok, I’ll do it in a minute”.
But one such minute may do the difference…let alone eleven (minutes). Thank you Paolo Coelho. Your message inspired me. Maybe my class will not be the same tomorrow after that!
Marianna P.
P.S I read The Witch of Portobello a few months back. I loved every page but ‘eleven minutes’ is still my favourite!
Yes! The same way as in Project Management, we should solve the major problems first before the little ones. Most often, little problems emerges because of the major problem. And so, when we solve the major problem, little problems will be eventually solved. When we apply this principle, the jar full of stone, gravel, and sand mentioned by Mr. Coelho above can still fit a cup of powdered coffe. This only means, we can still enjoy a sip of coffee with a friend amidst of our busyness in our work and life.
“POEM
Tell me, if I would catch you someday
and kiss your sole,
isn’t it that you would halt a little, afterwards,
being afraid not to bruise my kiss?”
“POEM
Spune-mi, dacă te-aş prinde-ntr-o zi
şi ţi-aş săruta talpa piciorului,
nu-i aşa că ai şchiopăta puţin, după aceea,
de teamă să nu-mi striveşti sărutul ?”
Nichita Stanescu (a great romanian poet)
Dear Paulo and all the people who read this blog
I’ve come here several times raising some issues that do concern me. As always God never faces us with a question without giving a possible answer and again, based on my personal experience and intuition He has inspired me with one.
A couple of years ago I watched a movie called Fahrenheit 451. It was a tale about the future, where people were forbidden to read, and actually there were men whose work was to find and destroy books. At a certain point in the movie there is this impressive scene of a woman in her fifties whose enormous personal library had been found by the “book fighters”. They started throwing all the books from the addict down to the first floor and when they were ready to set all the books on fire the woman walks on to the pile of books. The man told her to move away. She said no, the books were her friends they talked to her, and if they were going to be burnt, she wanted to be burn with them.
Reading does widen horizons. “To read is to grow” so do the Noddy’s books I read to my nephews say so. Reading is a most invaluable tool, but one that takes time and a lot of effort to acquire with the traditional methods, used so far. I believe the answer lies within finding new methods.
I always loved music. When I was growing up I’d memorize the lyrics of my favorite songs from the Top 40 and the words I didn’t know, I’d look them up in the dictionary. Memorizing and singing lyrics helped me develop the English I learned in school and helped me untangle my tongue when speaking it.. Then I started studying singing. That was my favorite class ever. I could come to it feeling tired but I’d always leave in a good mood. That happens because to sing properly, you have to fill your lungs with oxygen all the way down to your diaphragm, and as a consequence your body and brain get plenty of it. So singing does two things at the same time, helps you think faster and is a natural self-esteem booster. I believe that learning would improve, if there was a way for students to learn how to read while singing. I think there is. It’s called Karaoke. I’m sure you’ve seen it before, you sing to a music while looking in a screen that moves the lyrics word by word by word… You can start by hearing the lyrics along with the music and with slow paced songs and then move to faster ones later. Further more, Sesame Street and other shows have songs about various subjects. If they were put into CD’s they could be used as learning tools. Adriana Calcanhoto, a Brazilian singer put up a beautiful quite instructive children’s show with songs about animals, famous people, called Partimpim, to give you an idea of what is possible to do .
But learning to read isn’t the only way it’s possible to put Karaoke to a very practical usage. A few years ago I read that if you studied the songs from the Beatles you could learn to speak English. My personal experience tells me it is so and since I heard that Bob Dylan’s name had been suggested for a Literature Nobel Prize I was even more convinced about it. We can add more names like U2, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Ella Fitzgerald etc. Learning Portuguese with Rui Veloso, Chico Buarque, Xutos e Pontapés, Gilberto Gil, Amália Rodrigues etc. Learning French with Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf etc. Learning Italian with famous opera songs like “La donna é mobile”. There’s so much to choose from.
As a curiosity the word music derives from the Greek root muse. Mythology tells us that the nine muses, celestial sisters presiding over song, poetry, and the arts and sciences, were born of Zeus, the King of the Gods, and Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory…
From a different fields, movies with subtitles, and books with the original language on one page and a translation on the adjacent page could also be used as a learning tool for languages. And specific subject trivia question games could also be developed and used.
These are all tricks I have used myself when studying, so that’s why I believe they can be effective. I don’t have any scientific studies to base my theories So if the people reading this believe that to, pass on the idea and if you can afford it give your kid a karaoke device. It doesn’t hurt trying. I firmly believe that improving the level of education is, if not the only way, it is the best way, to improve the conditions of life for people on earth. The richest person can loose all his money but nobody can take away from you what you’ve learned.
May the Love of God surround us all
MyzPax
Beautiful and truly storie. Sometimes we haves big and small problems, so we try to end with small ones and left the big ones for after. When you see it’s bigger than before and we don’t know how to end it.
That this storie help us to now how to do the things in our lifes.
What’s the matter Mary Jane, you had a hard day
As you place the don’t disturb sign on the door
You lost your place in line again, what a pity
You never seem to want to dance anymore
It’s a long way down
On this roller coaster
The last chance streetcar
Went off the track
And you’re on it.
I hear you’re counting sheep again Mary Jane
What’s the point of trying to dream anymore
I hear you’re losing weight again Mary Jane
Do you ever wonder who you’re losing it for
Well it’s full speed baby
In the wrong direction
There’s a few more bruises
If that’s the way
You insist on heading
Please be honest Mary Jane
Are you happy
Please don’t censor your tears
You’re the sweet crusader
And you’re on your way
You’re the last great innocent
And that’s why I love you
So take this moment Mary Jane and be selfish
Worry not about the cars that go by
All that matters Mary Jane is your freedom
Keep warm my dear, keep dry
Tell me
Tell me
What’s the matter Mary Jane
My freedom.
This has felt like 3 yrs in a cage kid. We’ll meet again sometime, somewhere.
Love,
Sun
you forgot the coffee! in the end he also pours a cop of coffee in the jar to show that after all important things (big stones) and unimportant things (sand) - there is always time for a cup of coffee with a friend!
*smile*
Two stories in a row has gotten me to think again about what I am doing in my life. It’s strange how it takes someone I don’t even know to do that.
A root feeds you by the elements of life which will keep the holy flame alive
and brings
the unification of the sacred wedding.
Let’s sing and dance to our roots again.
With love
Hildegarde