-
By
unknown Author
One of my
favorite inspirational motivational story.
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday
mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the
first to rise, of 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 kitchen, with a steaming cup
of coffee 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 volume up on my radio in order to
listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap
with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in
the broadcasting business himself.
He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to someone named "Tom". I was
intrigued and sat down 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 my workshop next to the radio. 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 God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved
ones...... "It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time
with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good
morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show's
moderator didn't have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave
us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning,
then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a
kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What
brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special," I said.
" It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with
the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy
some marbles."
How many marbles do you have?
