A thousand marbles

Got this article from an email and I thot its worth sharing will everyone

How Many Marbles Do You Have Left?

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 timehere 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."

"Life is fragile. Handle with Prayer"