A friend e-mailed this to me this morning...I don't know who wrote it, sorry.
A Thousand Marbles
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps
it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to
rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at
work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning
are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the backyard patio
with a steaming cup of green tea in one hand and the morning
paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday
morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to
hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on
my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap
meet. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap,
with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the
kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting
business. He was telling whoever he was talking with
something about "a thousand marbles".
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job.
I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be
away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a
young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a
week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's
dance recital."
He continued, let me tell you something Tom, something that
has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
And that's when he began to explain his theory of a
"thousand marbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a
little arithmetic. The average person lives about
seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live
less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900
which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has
in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm
getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about
all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had
lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to
thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had
about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble
they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to
round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside
of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack
next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken
one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused
more on the really important things in life. There is
nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out
to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with
you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning,
I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure
if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a
little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a
little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time
with your family, and I hope to meet you again.
You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when this
fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think
about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the grand kids to
breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. Oh, nothing
special, it's just been a while since we spent a Saturday
together with the grand kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy
store while we're out?
I need to buy some marbles."
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND
MAY ALL SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!
------------------
"Lead, follow or get the HELL out of the way."
A Thousand Marbles
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps
it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to
rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at
work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning
are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the backyard patio
with a steaming cup of green tea in one hand and the morning
paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday
morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to
hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on
my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap
meet. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap,
with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the
kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting
business. He was telling whoever he was talking with
something about "a thousand marbles".
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job.
I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be
away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a
young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a
week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's
dance recital."
He continued, let me tell you something Tom, something that
has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
And that's when he began to explain his theory of a
"thousand marbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a
little arithmetic. The average person lives about
seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live
less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900
which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has
in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm
getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about
all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had
lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to
thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had
about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble
they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to
round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside
of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack
next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken
one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused
more on the really important things in life. There is
nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out
to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with
you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning,
I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure
if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a
little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a
little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time
with your family, and I hope to meet you again.
You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when this
fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think
about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the grand kids to
breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. Oh, nothing
special, it's just been a while since we spent a Saturday
together with the grand kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy
store while we're out?
I need to buy some marbles."
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND
MAY ALL SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!
------------------
"Lead, follow or get the HELL out of the way."
