Mayonnaise and Beer
by Anonymous
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 beer.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in
front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he 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. So 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 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 an unanimous “yes.” The professor then produced two
cans of beer 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–your family, your children, your health, your
friends, your favorite passions–things that 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, 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 beer
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 beers.”

Don’t you love it when people go out of their way to be nice? Like when someone waits to hold the door for you. Or when a stranger waves you into a line a traffic. Or even when a coworker shoots you a friendly smile along with a “have a nice day.” If everyone was a little bit nicer to the folks they encountered each day, perhaps the world would be a more pleasant place. Operation NICE was initiated to remind you that a little NICE goes a long way.

Learn more about Operation Nice!

Answer the questions with one word answers:

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? the best
5. Your father? easygoing
6. Your favorite thing? blanket
7. Your dream last night? ??
8. Your dream/goal? publication
9. The room you’re in? happy-place
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? skydiving
13. Where were you last night? happy-place
14. What you’re not? assertive
15. One of your wish-list items? car
16. Where you grew up? Birmingham
17. The last thing you did? Twitter
18. What are you wearing? pj’s
19. Your TV? cartoons
20. Your pet? beagle
21. Your computer? built
22. Your mood? excited
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? Windstar
25. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? awesome
28. Love someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? at Jeanne
31. Last time you cried? Grey’s Anatomy

If you play along, please let me know! Have fun!

I’m invisible.  The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this?  Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.  She’s going; she’s going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.   It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, I brought you this. It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription:’To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book.  And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, afterwhich I could pattern my work. No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof?   No one will ever see it.’ And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.’

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction.   But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness.   It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.’  That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home.  And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, ‘you’re gonna love it there.’

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

ETA: I did not write this, I don’t want to take credit for someone’s work.  I received this in an email, and it spoke to me, straight to the heart, so I added it to my blog.  From now on, I will note in any entry if I copied/pasted from an email.

Did you Know?

This morning, the day of the run, was a bit chilly, so I put on a long sleeved t-shirt under the Savvy Gifts t-shirt we got for being in that team.  I was cold while we were standing around waiting, but once we started walking, it got a bit warm!  I was surprised to see all the people participating!  The website said that official count of walker was 2759.  There were tons more people there though, I guess for support and encouragement.  The route went through the old historic district of downtown Huntsville, so I was having trouble keeping my pace and watching where I was going because I was too busy admiring the old house we were passing.  There are some absolute beauties there!  I did have to concentrate when we started going through a hilly section, that is where it got difficult, I definitely lost some ground there.  We did finish in less than an hour though.  Yay!  Accomplishment – I “ran” in my first race.  This is the official word from the website:

And while money is still coming in, it looks like we will raise close to $100,000 for the Liz Hurley Breast Cancer Fund at Huntsville Hospital Foundation. That’s $30,000 more than last year’s Ribbon Run! All proceeds will help pay for the new Breast MRI machine at The Breast Center at Huntsville Hospital. Thanks to everyone who made the 4th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run a race to remember!

If you would like to revisit September 11, 2001 in pictures, articles, editorials, speeches, poems, quotes etc. please visit Tragedy of 911

I got this picture in an email, and I thought it would be perfect for this post.

This is a beautiful photo of a giant American flag in Arizona. The photo is authentic, untouched and was taken on regular Kodak 35mm film. The person who took the picture couldn’t believe the image created by the suns rays.  Nice of them to share it with the world!