When i was in college i was very active in student organisations. I was an elected officer during 1st year, headed the fair committee and on my sophomore year became the president of Tapat. One of the two political parties in DLSU. One of the unforgettable stories i learned was this:
There was a high school class and the professor came in bringing a glass container and some rocks. He placed the rocks inside the container until it was full to the brim. Then he asked “Is this container full?” the students replied yes.
He took out a bag of smaller rocks and said “No”, then starts dropping the stones inside until there gaps were filled up. Then he asked again “Is this full?”. The students once again said yes.
He again took out from the bag a plastic of sand and begins to fill up the container. Then he asked again the students the same question to which the students replied the same answer “No”.
The professor takes out a glass of water and fills it up and says “Now its full. So what the moral of this exercise?”.
One smart student raises his hand and answers “Its about Time, no matter how full our schedules seem we can always pack something into it if we knew how.”.
The professor answers “Thats a very good observation and its correct. But we can also see it in the perspective of priorities… if we fill ourselves with the less important stuff like the water, sand we will not have room for the more important ones (the rocks)”.
Last week, i talked about priorities to my team (all companies). I was so inspired by the book “TIME POWER” by Brian Tracy that i decided to share what i’ve read.
While reading the book i realised how computerisation and all these technologies have made it easier for us to do things. What should take a week now takes hours (like finding files in a huge database). But it has also allowed us to pack our schedules so tight that there’s hardly any air to move in.
If you’re like me… You run a busy schedule! and what i learned from the book is that you cannot accept any other job, another hobby, another chore without sacrificing something… thats how busy you are now. It can be your family, it can be your time with God and most of the time, you sacrifice sleep.
My take on it is that something doesn’t need to be bad for you to give it up. Be ready to sacrifice something thats good because something better is coming.
One October 15, i committed to Jesus that by hook or by crook I will open our mid week church every Wednesday and just like the title in this blog… “somethings gotta give”. I’m a man of passion and i don’t do things just for the money. with that, i’m saying I love everything i do… i love shooting, i love diving, i love doing events, i love being a dad and a husband….. but something’s gotta give.
After many prayerful mornings and tears, i’ve decided to cut teaching diving. I will do fun dives and trips (family bonding) but July will be the last month i teach scuba diving courses on a daily basis. Something i love doing, but God is calling me to do greater things for him. I know my priorities – God, Wife, Kids, Work, Ministry then friends. In that order…
As i end my blog, i want to ask you…
1. what have you been giving up? if you don’t start setting priorities, you might give up something by accident that you shouldn’t be.
2. When you check your priority list versus how you spend your time, money and talent, are they consistent?
