Rocks, Pebbles and Sand

I like this story a lot. It’s a great metaphor with a powerful message about time management and priorities.

 

ROCKS, PEBBLES AND SAND

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items in front of him. When class began, he wordlessly picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about two inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

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

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

The Seven Wonders

A simple story with a simple, yet powerful, message.

 

THE SEVEN WONDERS

A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:

1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter’s Basilica
7. China’s Great Wall

Humbled but Unbowed

I had fun making a three-minute video to promote my book, Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything. I wrote the script and enlisted the help of two talented and generous friends—actor and filmmaker Jeffrey Goodson, and actress and singer Holly Schroeder. We got together and Holly interviewed me as if we were on a TV talk show. After Jeff’s typically superb editing, I posted the video on my website. Alas, you won’t find it there anymore. I trashed that bad boy a few hours later.

Why? From the start, I was leery of my acting ability. The more I tried to sound natural, the more I came off as rehearsed and inauthentic. Wondering if I was just being too hard on myself, I posted the video on my site and asked my ex-wife (whom I’m still very close to) and our daughter to critique it.

Wayne Dyer: “Wake Up and Drive Your Boat!”

Wayne Dyer

I love this metaphor that Wayne Dyer likes to use in his talks. The message? Never let what’s happened in the past prevent you from creating your best future.

It was a privilege to interview Wayne for my book, Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything. He told me the story of his miraculous healing after experiencing a vision of St. Francis of Assissi. Read an excerpt here.

WAKE UP AND DRIVE YOUR BOAT!

One of my favorite metaphors illustrates the importance of recognizing the past for what it is. Imagine that you are on a boat headed north at around forty knots. As you stand on the stern, looking down into the water, three questions come to mind.

Caroline Myss Video on Forgiveness

This is a powerful story, told by Caroline Myss, that demonstrates how forgiveness can promote physical healing as well as emotional healing. It’s from a lecture on Caroline’s book, Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can.

Caroline was kind enough to write the Foreword for and contribute a story to my book, Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything. Read

I Was Young, Carefree and Clueless

There are people who don’t have a clue that they don’t have a clue. No matter how gently and compassionately you try to tell such people that they don’t have a clue, they act insulted, get defensive and accuse you of being arrogant.

Their response proves the point: the more unenlightened someone is, the more they will take offense when told they are unenlightened. Someone who is enlightened and mature considers criticism objectively; he or she either accepts the criticism as true and changes his/her behavior accordingly, or judges the criticism as lacking in merit and dismisses it without a second thought.

I know this to be true because I used to be among the chronically clueless. I was wildly

Best. Gift. Ever.

Two years ago, my mom, Sandy, and my daughter, Erin, each said that the present I put together for their birthday was the best gift they had ever received.

If you’re searching for that perfect gift for a loved one, I hope you give this a shot. It’s the ideal present for birthdays, holidays or just because.

My mom reads her Appreciation Album

What is it? An Appreciation Album filled with letters from friends and loved ones telling the recipient how much he or she means to them.

Start by making a list of everyone who the recipient is or has been close to. Reach far back into the past and cast a wide net in the present. For both my mom and my daughter, I was able to collect around 50 letters.

Caroline Myss Videos: The Energetics of Healing

Caroline Myss

With Caroline Myss’ permission, I am happy to offer this three-hour, fourteen-minute presentation of The Energetics of Healing, broken up into twenty videos. It’s an exploration of the seven chakra (or power) centers and how they relate to and impact your daily and spiritual life. Caroline’s wisdom and insights are breathtaking in scope. It’s little wonder that she’s a superstar on the lecture circuit.

Caroline was kind enough to write the Foreword for and contribute a story to my book, Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything. Read an excerpt from Caroline’s story here.

Caroline also generously agreed to write the Foreword for my new book, Through God’s Eyes: Finding Peace and Purpose in a Troubled World.

THE ENERGETICS OF HEALING—PART 1 OF 20

My Visit with Jim MacLaren

Jim MacLaren and me in Santa Fe

I spent a few days in Santa Fe this week visiting with Jim MacLaren. Jim is a huge

Information, Please

I love this story! It was first published in the June, 1966 issue of Reader’s Digest. The writer, Paul Villard, has a deep appreciation for the value and power of relationships and how much we can mean to one another. I hope you enjoy it.

INFORMATION, PLEASE

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother used to talk to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person—her name was “Information Please” and there was nothing she did not know. “Information Please” could supply anybody’s number and the correct time.

My first personal experience with this genie-in-the-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer.

I Wish You Enough

A few days ago, my daughter Erin dropped me off at the airport for a flight to Santa Fe. Even before I got out of the car, I was choked up. Whenever one of us takes a trip, the thought of never seeing her again brings me to tears. She is the greatest blessing I could ever have in this life and the greatest gift I could ever give to the world.

Four years earlier, when Erin was living in Denver, I went out for a visit. When it came time for me to return to Minneapolis, I started tearing up a mile from the airport. I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I could barely speak. I hugged her goodbye and didn’t want to let go. As she drove off, I stood sobbing on the curb.

Yes, I am a big sap. That’s why I love this story. I don’t know who wrote it, but emotionally it’s pitch-perfect. I hope it motivates readers to cherish every moment they have with their children.

Erin, this is for you.

Love, Dad

 

At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane’s departure and, standing near the door, she said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy.” They kissed goodbye and she left.

He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it would be forever?”

Story of a Cab Ride

This touching story is one of my favorites. It’s a reminder to challenge yourself to see the presence of God in every soul you encounter. If your purpose on this earth is to learn and practice unconditional love, then all your relationships become hallowed ground.

 
Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But, I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute,” answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase.

The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. “Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

You Are, and Will Always Be, Priceless

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of two hundred, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?” Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.”

He proceeded to crumple the $20 bill up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still, the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he continued, “what if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

Disaster or Stepping Stone?

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway so it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He