Just When you think Life Sucks.

“When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, when a fellow TT'r seems to have his head on backwards, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly 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---your family, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and 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," 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 small stuff you will never have room for the things
that are important to you.
"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your pets. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. 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."

I got this in an email from a friend. just thought I'd share it with ya'll.”

“already posted here

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/12997,-1.php”

“heck with coffee. how much tequila could you fit in that jar?”

“That's the problem with distribution list emails..I generally ignore them but I thought this one was pretty good.

Carry on...

mmm....tequilla, bring on the blue agave'.
last edited: 5/19/05 4:31:05 PM”

“Just when you begin to think life DOESN'T suck, it begins to BLOW.”

“Thanks, in reality, it IS a good message, one that bore repeating.”

“that's nice pak.

i must have missed it before. i'm glad you posted it.”

“I rarely fall into the trap of mass forwarding e-mails, no matter how good the message. This one, though, deserves to be read and shared by everyone with kids involved in youth sports. If we could get our kids to understand that the importance of this message supersedes wins and losses in recreation sports we will have done a terrific job of being parents and coaches.



Subject: FW: Shay



To my baseball friends, I thought you might enjoy this. It's not All-Stars, but it reminds me of what the game is really about for our children.

What would you do ?

You make the choice Don't look for a punch line. There isn't one. Read it
anyway.

My question to all of you is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled
children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would
never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question.

"When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does
is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other
children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is
the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay comes into
the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself,
and it comes, in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a
park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball.

Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?"

Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay
on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were
allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay
could play.

The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none, he took matters
into his own hands and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in
the eighth inning.. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put
him in to bat in the ninth inning."

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was
still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the
outfield.

Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in
the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved
to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with
two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and
Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all
but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly,
much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved in a few
steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make
contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher
again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball
right back to the pitcher.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the
ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have
been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher took the ball and turned and threw the ball on a
high arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman.

Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!"

Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down
the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!"

By the time Shay rounded first base, the right fielder had the ball.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the ball high
and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously
circled the bases toward home.

Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him
in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay,
run home!"

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who
hit the "grand slam" and won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
"the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity
into this world."

AND, NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes
through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending
messages about life choices, people think twice about sharing.

The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but
public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools a
nd workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're
probably sorting out the people on your address list that aren't the
"appropriate" ones to receive this type of message.

Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a
difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to
help realize the "natural order of things."

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with
a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up
that opportunity, and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

You now have two choices:
1. Delete this..
2. Forward it to the people you care about.
You already know the choice I opted for”

“manuka, you bastard. You are making me tear up. the stuff at teh bottom is useless. But the story is wonderful”

“yes, wonderful story.
would be more wonderful if it would be a true story.”

“http://www.snopes.com/glurge/chush.htm

Rabbi Krohn says that the story is true and that he was told it by Shaya's father, who is a friend of his. (The "Chush" school mentioned in the piece is the Jewish Center for Special Education on Kent Street in Brooklyn, a school that caters to Yiddish-speaking children of Orthodox Hasidic Jews. )

-------------------------------------

Followed up by an article by Barbara "killed with kindness" Mikkelson on the let down experienced when a person is led to believe they accomplished something they did not, and eventual reality shatteres the illusion.”

“gem, I was giving a newspaper clipping once about a story where a Downs kid was "on" the high school football team for 4 years but mostly just carried gear and water and stuff, never played in a game though or was hit in practice. the last game of his senior year the coach talked to the other coach before the game about getting the kid into the game for a few reps.

late in the game the Downs' kids team was getting spanked (shut out, if I remember correctly) and they put the kid in the game at half back. They told him he was to get teh ball and run straight into the line. The other team would tackle him gently. But the kids didn't. they acted as if he was a powerful runner and fell away from him, then both teams chased along beside him yelling encouragement all the way to the endzone. The whole place was screaming for him.

That was a newspaper clipping from a sports page. It does happen”

“Though I agree that typically developing kids are be given a disservice when GIVEN false accomplishments, Downs kids will never know they didn't accomplish it on their own.”

“Gem wins the "bah Humbug" award for today :-)”

“manuka, I really did form a tear reading that, even though I have read it before. I have a downs son and am taking him and my other 2 daughters camping this weekend. Guess I am just feeling a little bloated and emotional today.”

“hyway, anyone with a Downs syndrome child wins the patience award every day.”