| Charles McKeever posted
this message...
This is the type story I
would write to my sons.. if they would only stop long enough to
listen...as I sit here looking at my empty jar which once was full..
Read on.... Chaz..
Subject: The 1000 Marbles.
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps 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."
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND MAY ALL SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL AND MAY YOU HAVE
MANY HAPPY YEARS AFTER YOU LOSE ALL YOUR MARBLES |
