A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.

Welcome to Cafe de Elisabeth, please fill up your cup and pull up a chair. Thank you for joining us for un cafecito! Nothing starts a good conversation like a smile and some welcoming greeting.

A professor stood before his philosophy class one morning, and
had some items on his table. As class begins, he picked up an empty large
mayonnaise jar and started to fill it with golf balls.

He asked the students “Is the jar full?"

“Yes it is”, replied the students spontaneously.

Next, the professor filled the jar with small pebbles which slipped in the empty spaces easily in between the golf balls. He asked the students again what did they think of it now. They of course replied “It is fuller now”.

Next, the professor poured sand in the jar making it almost full because it’s small and tiny grains slid and filled up the remaining spaces between the golf balls and pebbles.
Finally, the professor poured in coffee and made sure that there is NO EMPTY SPACE at all in the jar. The students, puzzled and laughing at the same time asked him what he was trying to prove in his experiment.

“Now”says the professor as the laughters subside, “I want you to recognize and imagine that this jar represents your life”.

The Golf balls - represent the most important things in your life ie your family, your children, your relatives, your health and your passion, that if there was no sand or pebbels, your life will still be full.

The Pebbles - other things in our life that matters in order to sustain ie your education, career, house, car, etc.

The Sand - represents the other necessities in our lives, the much smaller stuff - entertainment, picnics, travel, etc.

The professor continued, “You see, if I had put the sand and pebbles into the jar first, there will be no room for the golf balls. Similarly to life, if we concentrated and spend much of our time and energy on the smaller stuff in life, then we would not have room to accommodate to the more important ones”.

“Pay more attention to the things that are critical to your happiness,” he added. “Play with your children. Take your spouse out regularly when you have time. Make time for medical check ups. Set your priorities. Take care of the golf balls first, then the pebbles and the sand.”

A student raised her hand and asked “But what about the coffee Professor?”

“I am glad you asked,” replied the professor with a smile.

“It just shows that no matter how full your life is occupied with the priorities, make sure there is always room for a cup of coffee with your friends.”