One day a wise man was giving a lecture to a group of disciples. To make a point clear, he used an example that those present will never forget.
Standing in front of an audience he said: "I'd like to give you a little demonstration."
From under the table he took out a wide-mouthed glass jug and placed it on the table in front of him. Then he took out a dozen fist-sized stones and began placing them one by one into the jug.
When the jug was filled to the brim and he could not place more stones he asked the audience: "Is this jug full?” To which all the attendees replied "Yes!"
Then he said, "Are you sure?", And he pulled a bucket of small construction stones from under the table. He threw some of the stones in the jug and moved it causing the small stones to settle in the empty space between the large ones.
When he had done this he asked once more: "Is this jug full?"
This time the audience was already guessing what was coming and one of the disciples said aloud: "Probably not."
"Very well," replied the sage. He pulled a bucket full of sand from under the table and began throwing it into the jug. The sand settled in the space between the large stones and the small ones.
Once again I ask the group: "Is this jug full?"
This time several people answered in chorus: "No!"
Once again the sage said: "Very well!", Then he took out a jug full of water and poured water into the jug with stones until it was full to the very edge. When he finished, he looked at the audience and asked: "What do you think the teaching of this little demonstration is?"
One of the spectators raised his hand and said: "The teaching is that it does not matter how full your schedule is, if you really try, you can always include more things."
"No! - replied the sage - that is not the teaching."
"The teaching is that if you do not put the big stones first, you cannot put them at any other time."
Source: Unknown origins.
What are the big stones of your life?
I've read this fable a lot of times and I never get tired. The big stones are the things that matter most to us in life, be our family, our passion, our dreams and/or our deepest desires. If we do not order our priorities and do not place the "big stones" first, there will be no space to do so and these will be left out.
Do not postpone your dreams and your goals, because you will only be avoiding them, be smart and look for the space from the first opportunity to do what you really want to do.
Remember that just as your dreams are like a couple of stones, life is like a jug and at some point it will be completely full. Do not waste your life doing things you really do not want to do.