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 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."
