Moral...

When I first joined my company a wise old veteran of the company gave me the best advise that I've ever received. While explaining the balance and priorities between family life and working 25 hours a day for 8 days a week, he picked up an empty jar and filled it full of small rocks. He then asked me if the jar was full? I agreed that it was.

He then poured a box of small pebbles into the jar, shook it lightly and the pebbles rolled between the gaps in the rocks. Again, he asked me if the jar was full. I agreed that it was now full.

He then picked up a box of sand and poured the sand into the jar. Of course, with a little shake it filled the gaps between the rocks and pebbles.

"Now" he said, "the jar is full and I'd like you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, there would be no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all of your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that really matter. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time for medical check-ups. Take your partner dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the car. Take care of the rocks first - set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

Well I was quite moved and impressed, but there had to me more to it. So I took my can of beer and poured it into the jar. The beer soaked into the sand and made the jar truly full.

The moral of this tale, no matter how full your life is, there's always room for BEER.