Life's Jar

Some of you may have heard about or even seen someone demonstrate how to prioritize your life using a large glass jar.

You take an empty jar, which represents your life, your time, and your energy. Then you add some large rocks. These rocks represent the most important things in your life -- family, faith, job -- whatever you choose. But when your jar is full of large rocks, it isn't full. There's room for pebbles. These things are still important -- chatting with friends, volunteer work, hobbies -- again, the choices are up to you.

By now your jar looks pretty full, right? Wrong. Now comes the sand. The sand sifts in and fits around the large rocks and pebbles. The sand is all the daily things that have to be done -- grocery shopping, paying the bills, house cleaning -- things that are necessary, but not necessarily any kind of priority.

Guess what? Your jar still isn't full. It's time to add water. The water represents the things people do not to face the rocks or pebbles or life in general. Maybe it's using your kids as an excuse not to do things, or maybe it's spending time anonymously online instead of building relationships. The water, which flows around all the other priorities and must-do items in our life, fills our time to the brim even though the things it represents are not priorities in any way.

Over time large rocks may become pebbles. Pebbles may become sand or they may become large rocks. Priorities shift. Things change.

I have certainly found this to be true in my life. Almost four years ago my family rock grew to take up a lot more space in my jar, and this blog became a large rock for me. But now I find my priorities shifting again.

This blog, which I started as a creative outlet and to serve as my kids' baby book, is becoming a smaller rock. It's not a pebble, at least not in my heart, but I don't have the time and energy for it that I once did.

Since I started working and I'm writing every day, I don't need the same creative outlet for my writing. And, those hours at work mean I have less time with my family, which is a BIG rock I won't compromise on. That means something else in my jar has to shift to make room for a work rock. As a result, this blog rock has gotten a lot smaller in the last few weeks.

I'll still be checking in here from time to time, but until my job ends in November, I'm not making any promises about how often. I'm trying to be forgiving of myself and accept that I can't do it all and do it all well. It's OK to let go of something, even something that was once as important to me as this blog.

This was a lifeline for me in the early days. It was a place I connected with other moms of multiples. It was and is a record of our life as a family. It's a photo album, our home movies and the stories that will become our family lore all rolled into one.

None of that will change.

I'm not closing things down here. I just want to explain that while Trippin' is still important to me, priorities have shifted, and you won't find me here quite so regularly. Instead of an almost daily column, my posts here will be more like an occasional letter you get in the mail from a friend -- a pleasant surprise for you to sit down and savor.

I promise I will still be here sharing funny stories and daily frustrations. It just won't be quite so often, at least until November.

If you're a regular reader, thanks for cheering me on through the early years of life with triplets plus one. I hope you'll keep stopping by.

Thanks for understanding.

Christy

© Trippin' Mama 2012