I hope that everyone has had the chance to watch Owen's story. If nothing else, I am hoping that his story helps to raise awareness for childhood cancer, and that it helps people cherish their children, and to stop "sweating the small stuff". In life, we take far too much for granted, and we focus on things that really are no big deal in the grand scheme of life. We need to focus more on the "Big rocks" in our lives, and less on the gravel, sand, and water...

Stephen Covey's Big Rock story provided the inspiration for this month's issue. A time management guru was speaking to a group of type "A" personalities. He placed a wide-mouth gallon jar on the table in front of him. Next to the jar was a collection of fist-sized rocks. He carefully filled the jar with the big rocks, until he could fit no more.  He asked the group, "Is the jar full?" Everyone responded, "Yes."  He then pulled a large bowl of gravel from under the table and proceeded to pour the gravel into the jar. The gravel fit into the spaces between the rocks. He again queried, "Is the jar full?" "Probably not," was the group's reply. He reached for another bowl, this one filled with sand. He dumped the sand into the jar. The sand filled the spaces not taken by the rocks and the gravel. Once more, he asked, "Is the jar full?" "No," everyone agreed. Finally, he reached for a pitcher of water and poured water into the jar until it was filled to the top. The time management guru looked at the group and asked, "What is the point of my illustration?" One man replied, "That no matter how full your schedule is, you can always fit one more thing into it." "No!" the guru responded. The point of this illustration is, "If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all!" The moral of Covey's story is: Get the important things figured out first, make time for them above all else, then fit everything else in around them. In other words, know what your priorities are....make sure you are spending more time on the "big rocks" than worrying about the "water". Don't sweat the small stuff. In the end, it isn't what truly matters.