Inspiring Teacher Shows Students How a Jar Represents Life

This teacher shows students a valuable life lesson using a mason jar.

June 14, 2017
By: Kristine Boyd

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Photo by: iStock

iStock

This teacher was able to teach the students a valuable lesson about life with a mason jar, ping pong balls, beads, sand and a beer. And the response was overwhelmingly positive.

The teacher pulls out a mason jar and says, "This jar represents your life." The teacher starts by placing the ping pong balls in the mason jar and asks the students if the jar is full. They say yes. Then the teacher adds the beads to the jar and asks them if the jar is full. Again, the students reply with yes. He then pours sand into the jar which fills into all the tiny crevices. He asks his students for the third time, "Is the jar full?" The students, once again, say yes.

The students believe the jar to be completely full when the teacher pours a beer into the jar which soaks into the sand. The teacher says that this jar represents everything in your life. The ping pong balls are the most important things in your life like family, friends and love. The beads are all of the secondary, material things in your life like your car, house and job. The sand represents everything else. All of the small possessions in your life.

If you put the sand in first nothing else will fit. If you fill the jar with beads or sand you won't have room for the ping pong balls. The same thing happens in life. The lesson is to make sure you put the people that matter most in your life first and you will have room for the other small luxuries that life has to offer.

"What does the beer represent?" a student asked. The teacher said, "It goes to show that no matter how full your life may be, there is always room for a beer with a friend." Put the people we love first, everything else second and always make time for fun with a friend. This is a great life lesson we all need to hear no matter our age. We love this idea! Watch the full video below from Viral Thread!

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