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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 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 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 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, it's 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."
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