Bryan Koh - ShareAPost, Share Your Thoughts Here!

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 Hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty Mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children,
Health, friends, and Favorite passions — 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, house, and car.
The sand is everything else — the small stuff.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So…

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

“Take care of the golf balls first — the things that really matter. Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked”. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

For those who’ve forgotten that they’ve had this before. at goes
around…..
He was tired and aching and on his way home from a long day at work, so he
almost didn’t see the old lady stranded on the side of the road, but even
in the dim light of day he could see she needed help.  So he pulled up in
front of her Mercedes and got out.  His old Pontiac was still sputtering
as he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to
help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look
safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He
knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.

He said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where
it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad
enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack,
skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began
to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just
passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed
him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined
all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan
never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was
helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given
him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never
occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she
saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance
they needed, and Bryan added, “Pass it on.”

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and
depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into
the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a
bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her
trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas
pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and
brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one
that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed
the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the
strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had
so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan ..

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The
waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the
old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the
waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then
she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: “This
isn’t a tip, it’s a gift.  You don’t owe me anything. Somebody once helped me
out and if you feel you want to pay me back, don’t let this chain of love end
with you, pass it on.”

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to
serve,but the waitress made it to closing time.

That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was
thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady
have known how much she and her husband needed it?  With the baby due next
month, it was going to be hard….

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her,
she gave him a gentle kiss and whispered soft and low, “Everything’s going
to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

There is an old saying “What goes around comes around.” Today I sent you
this story, and I am asking you to pass it on. Let this light keep
shining.

Good friends are like stars….You don’t always see them, but you know
they are always there.

Got this from my colleague…. 

Great note for all to read it will take just 37 seconds to read this and change your thinking

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man couldn’t hear the band - he could see it. In his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.

It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.

Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy.

“Today is a gift, that’s why it is called the present.”