Memories That Fill Your Cup of Life

Last week was Thanksgiving. I was thinking about making memories with my family and friends. Thinking about the different types of memories along the way, it reminded me of the idea of the big rocks and little rocks demonstration and philosophy. That idea states that you should fill your cup of life first with the big rocks. Then, add the medium rock and the small rocks. Then, you can add the pebbles and the sand and even some water to completely fill your cup. The point of the exercise and demonstration is to show how much you can fit in when using that order and comparing that to doing the major activities/tasks/moments of life first so that you can ensure you have time and energy for them and then fit in the smaller or less important. The demonstration goes on to show that if you were to do the opposite, your cup would be overflowing well before you get all of your big, important rocks in.

As I was thinking about this, I looked at it a little differently with memories and life. Yes, fitting in those big events such as a trip to Disney World, weddings, or climbing a mountain are awesome and need planned in early on. People like Jesse Itzler suggest planning your year in advance and before adding in anything else, adding in the “big rocks” to the calendar. I agree. The slight tweak in the view of the big rocks and little rocks example is that I believe we need to remember to appreciate and reflect on the little things too. Some of the memories we create are simple and someone else may not even notice them as important. Yet, they are the sand that fills our cup of life and binds it all together. What are those simple ones for you? For me, those small little actions and moments include “beard” with my son where he presses his face into my stubble and smiling says “beard” as he hugs his face against mine. They are when our dog army crawls her way up the bed to “attack” me with kisses in the morning or I notice the morning sun highlighting a valley of green during a run. As a matter of fact, I was starting to write this while visiting some friends who had a time share for the holiday week and my writing was interrupted for a bit as I was summoned back to the pool for more tickle monster tag before finishing.