A friend gave me these and wanted to share with my "family" at MB's!!!<P>RULES FOR BEING HUMAN<BR>AUTHOR UNKNOWN<P>1. YOU WILL RECEIVE A BODY: <BR>You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for as long as you live. How you take care of it or fail to take care of it can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life.<P>2. YOU WILL LEARN LESSONS:<BR>You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called Life. Each day, you will be presented with opportunities to learn what you need to know. The lessons presented are often completely different from those you THINK you need.<P>3. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, ONLY LESSONS:<BR>Growth is a process of trial, error and experimentation. You can learn as much from failure as you can from success. Maybe more.<P>4. LEARNING LESSONS DOES NOT END: <BR>There is no stage of life that does not contain some lessons. As long as you live there will be something more to learn.<P>5. “THERE” IS NO BETTER THAN “HERE”:<BR>When your “there” has become a “here,” you will simply discover another “there” that will again look better than your “here.” Don’t be fooled by believing that the unattainable is better than what you have.<P>6. OTHERS ARE MERELY MIRRORS OF YOU:<BR>You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. When tempted to criticize others, ask yourself why you feel so strongly.<P>7. WHAT YOU MAKE OF YOU LIFE IS UP TO YOU:<BR>You have all the tools and resources you need. What you create with those tools and resources is up to you. Remember that through desire, goal setting and unflagging effort you can have anything you want. Persistence is the key to success.<P>8. THE ANSWERS LIE INSIDE YOU:<BR>The solutions to all of life’s problems lie within your grasp. All you need to do is ask, look, listen and trust.<P><BR>THE BIG ROCKS<BR>AUTHOR UNKNOWN<P>One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “is this jar full?”<P>Everyone in the class said, “Yes” Then he said, “really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. The he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”<P>By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them answered.<P>“Good!” he replied.<P>He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?”<P>“No!” the class shouted.<P>Once again he said “good.” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”<P>One eager student raised his hand and said, “the point is no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!”<P>“No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point.”<P>The truth this illustration teaches us is:<P>If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.” What are the “big rocks" in your life? Your children; Your loved ones; Your education; Your dreams; A worth cause; Teaching or mentoring others; Doing things that you love; Time for yourself; Your health; Your significant other. <P>Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you’ll fill your life with little things you worry about that don’t really matter, and you’ll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks).<P>So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this “What are the big rocks in my life?” Then, put those in your jar first.<P>
