Marbles

Maybe it is because I am approaching a milestone birthday in just over a month. But, for some odd reason I was overcome with the urge to photograph a marble yesterday. Weird. I couldn’t quite understand the pull towards this random act. I have never been inclined to photograph a marble. Yes, they are nostalgic. I can remember playing with them with my three brothers for hours on end. The way the glass initially feels so cool to touch, but then warms up as they are held in your palm as you wait for your turn. So, I followed by inner voice and spent some time rummaging through our basement looking for marbles. My boys prefer playing video games so this was quite a feat in itself. After some time, I managed to find a few and took a few photos. Still not quite sure what the purpose of the task was. What was my subconscious mind trying to tell me? Once I finished the photos, I proceeded to my computer and looked at my IMAGES trying to piece together this puzzle. Nothing……I was so confused. I decided that the insight required to unravel the mystery of the pull towards the marbles would not be solved without the internet. Can you imagine what I would have had to do in the good ole days? Maybe that is where the saying “you’ve lost your marbles” comes from. Anyways, I started to google marbles, and stories about marbles. There had to be some hidden meaning behind this compulsive act. And then……wait for it……I had an Aha moment! Here is the story that made it all make sense…..My goodness….that subconscious mind is a powerful entity.

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 backyard patio 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 to listen to a Saturday morning talk show I heard an older sounding gentleman, with 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 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 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.
You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work that morning. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”