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I'm normally not a big fan of forwarding things to people but this one got my attention. Hope it does the same for somebody else.
Kind of puts things into perspective.
1000 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 basement ham-shack 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 dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. 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 whomever 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 marble theory.
"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 a large, clear plastic container right here in the sack 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 focus 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 that 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 here on the band. This is 75 Year Old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band 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, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. 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. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.... A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friends.
And so, as one very smart bear once said... "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." -Winnie the Pooh
Pass this on to all of your FRIENDS, even if it means sending it to the person that sent it to you. And if you read this many times from many different people, it only means that you have many FRIENDS.
And if you get it but once, do not be discouraged for you will know that you have AT LEAST ONE GOOD FRIEND. And that would be me!
-------------------- Andy Archer Member#:M99-0640 So many cars.. so little garage space Posts: 18 | From: Atlanta | Registered: Oct 2002
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Hey, thanks for the inspirational post! I've had a lot of things going on in my life right now, and it's always nice to have a message come across, right at the right time, reminding you as to what's important in life and how precious it really is.
Thanks, sincerely.
Nirav
-------------------- NiravSS Posts: 156 | From: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: Oct 2000
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Wow reading this after I just got up really put a new perspective on life for me. Even though on average we may live to be 75 it still isn't that long as time flies. If this on average is true then I have 34 years left and I am going to devote more time to things that are more important in life. Posts: 2841 | From: Westland, MI | Registered: Apr 2003
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Great look on life . Glad you passed it along makes me think more about the time I will have with the family and friends as we take off on vacation saturday.
Posts: 3091 | From: Canton Mi. | Registered: Oct 2002
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That is a great story. I am a Ham and had heard it a few times before. I really like that one.
Posts: 5946 | From: Litchfield, NH, USA | Registered: Feb 2000
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Thanks for the post. I think I'll be taking me g/f to breakfest Sat. morning Posts: 339 | From: Wallops Island, VA | Registered: Sep 2002
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. Glad you passed it along makes me think more about the time I will have with the family and friends as we take off on vacation saturday.
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