The story of five balls

Nothing much with me these days. I have fallen back into the routine of getting up early, going to work still half asleep, and coming home bone-weary since school started three weeks ago. Sometimes I miss my previous job in Cebu where I would go to work anytime I'd like, if I'd like to go to work at all. Right, there were days when I didn't even bother going to the office. The internet and my mobile phone made working at home possible for me....Oh, I'd just love to whine here and I could go on and on but there's no point, is there? That should have been the title of this entry; "pointless whining."
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I've never been so sickly in my life until I came to Prague. Thyroid, chicken pox, allergies, this eternal cold, possible anemia; all these were nonexistent in my life before Č.R. Nothing to be worried about though. Just that I'm getting sick and tired having to see different doctors almost twice a month for a check-up.
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Speaking of health, Lillian lent me this book written by James Patterson. I'm surprised it's a love story. He's best known for suspense-thriller ones like Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, books I haven't read yet but movies I saw and liked. Anyway, this book has a page which tells about the story of five balls. It goes like this:

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day, you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls--- family, health, friends, integrity--- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life."

One reason why I don't like going for a check-up is because I have to skip working hours and I worry about burdening my co-teachers with my loads. So you see, I have yet to understand this story and hopefully, somehow somewhere I will get there someday.