雙語短文 · 生命中最重要的東西

The Most Important Thing in Your Life　生命中最重要的東西

◎ Stephen Covey


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 over-achievers 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.
He then 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 the jar full?”
Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”
He replied, “Really?”
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel, then dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks.
He asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”
By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not.” one of them answered.
“Good!” he replied.
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 the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is the jar full?”
“No!” the class shouted.
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?”
One eager student raised her 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!”
“Good answer, but no.” the speaker replied, “That’s not my point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. What are the ‘big rock’ in your life? In my life they are my children... my wife... my loved ones... my education... my dreams... charities and worthy causes... teaching or mentoring others... doing things that I love... time for myself... my health... Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all.”
If you sweat the little stuff then you’ll fill your life with little things to 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).



從前，一位時間管理專家給一群商學院的學生作演講，其中他舉的一個例子讓所有學生終生難忘。
他站在一群學歷高資質高的學生面前說：“好吧，現(xiàn)在來作個小測試。”隨后，他拿出一個1加侖的廣口瓶，放在他面前的桌上。
接著，他把一些拳頭大小的石子小心翼翼地放進瓶里，一次放一個。當石子碰到瓶口，再也放不進一個時，他問道：“瓶子滿了嗎？”
班上所有人回答說：“是的。”
他又問一遍：“真的嗎？”
專家把手伸進桌子下方，拉出一桶細碎石，倒入一些，搖了搖，讓碎石填滿了之前石塊間的縫隙。
他再次提出問題：“現(xiàn)在瓶子滿了嗎？”
這時全班都在思考，其中一個聲音回答說：“應該還沒有。”
“很好。”專家說。
他再次從桌下拿出一桶沙子，往瓶里繼續(xù)倒，細沙迅速填滿了石塊與碎石之間的縫隙。他再一次問道：“瓶子滿了嗎？”
“沒有！”全班一起叫著說。
專家再次說：“很好！”
繼而，他拿出一罐水，開始往瓶里傾倒，直到水漫到瓶子邊緣。他看了看學生們，問：“這個例子說明了什么？”
一位熱切的同學舉手回答說：“這個例子說明，不管你的時間表排得多滿，只要你愿意，你總可以在中間插入其他的安排。”
“回答得很好，但不完全正確。”專家回答說，“這不是我想表達的。這個例子真正想告訴我們的是，如果你不是最開始放進去大石塊，到后來它們就怎么也放不進去。你們生命中的‘大石塊’是什么？在我生命里，是我的孩子，妻子……我愛的人……我的知識……我的夢想、慈善事業(yè)……教育事業(yè)……我熱愛的事情……我獨處的時間……我的健康……記得把這些大事件先安排處理，否則到后來你永遠處理不好。”
如果你先放入碎石，你的生活就會充滿無謂的瑣事，導致你面對那些重要的大事情時，無所適從。