:: Inspiratio Center ::

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the
basement 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 whoever 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 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 3,900, 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 2,800 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 1,000
marbles. I took them home and put them inside
of a large, clear plastic container right
here in the shack 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 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 meet you Tom, I hope you
spend more time with your family, and I hope
to meet you again here on the band. 75 year
Old Man, this is 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," I said. "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."

[Thanks, Donna]
from:groups.yahoo.com