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Location: Hong Kong, China

Hi! I like to call myself a work-in-progress. Not sure when the end-product will be ready. Hopefully NEVER! I love to be different. I believe in living every moment of my life fully and try not to waste time. Aim is to maximise the 24hrs granted to us every day of our life. Life is for the living, so live it! Every so often I have reality checks and actually think about what my existence is, but I get over that soon enough!! Before I die I want to have lived a life that experienced everything! I want people to remember me as someone who enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest. Happily married with 2 kids, my life revolves around my family and my job. Not too many friends but the few I have, I can fall back on anytime of the day or night. Since 1995, I started emailing famous quotes to my friends, instead of the jokes and porn which are more popular email topics. Even though, it started just as a pass-time, currently, when I don’t email for a few days, I am taken to task by some of the recipients of the ‘Food for Thought’ series. This Blog is a compilation of the various anecdotes, stories, quotes, etc. circulated during the last 10+ years. Hope you enjoy it!

Sunday, August 13, 2006


Coffee anybody?

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, 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 that 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 a 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, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite 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 the 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 children. 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."