Balls of different sizes

We have all read on our email or heard of the story of the professor who was teaching his class on the importance of balancing the various parts of our lives.

He proceeded to fill an empty vessel of different sized balls. Each ball standing for something of importance in your life, our vessel equals our life. He spoke of which balls and in which order we fill our vessel will help keep our life fulfilled. Simply put, too much time at the bar on the way home to meet with small balls (relative strangers) will take away from the time with (supposedly) big balls - your family.

The concept of filling our lives with important things is not new or earth-shattering. But in reality, it can continue to elude us despite our best efforts.


We have all been in a relationship, so closely connected, so living-in-each other's-pocket that we thought it would never end. But life happens and directions can alter. So what do we make of the realization that our partner in this juggling game of balls has decreased the size of the ball with our name on it without our knowledge?


If our vessel has a big ball named "You", but in your vessel the ball name "Me" are not the same (relative) size, one of us is losing out! We will feel slighted, short changed and eventually not as important in the other person's life.


We automatically do this evaluation each time we pick up the phone or send an email to stay connected to someone. But if they seldom reciprocate, we will soon feel that our importance in their life has diminished.


Juggling is a skill. All our relationships are all colourful and circular. The ones we focus on will continue their dance in our lives, and some will bounce and roll away.