{"id":71374,"date":"2024-03-25T16:27:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T09:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alternatech.net\/?p=71374"},"modified":"2024-03-25T16:27:31","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T09:27:31","slug":"a-jar-of-1000-marbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/a-jar-of-1000-marbles\/","title":{"rendered":"A Jar of 1000 Marbles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style='\"font-size:'>This is one of my favorite stories showing us the importance of focusing on the important things in life\u2026\n<h4><span style='\"font-size:' color:>How many marbles do you have?\n<p><span style='\"font-size:'>The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it\u2019s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, of maybe it\u2019s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.\n<p><span style='\"font-size:'>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 <span style='\"font-size:'>to hand you from time to time.\n<p><span style='\"font-size:'>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 <span style='\"font-size:'>broadcasting business himself.\n<p><span style='\"font-size:'>He was talking about <strong>\u201ca thousand marbles\u201d to someone named<strong> \u201cTom\u201d. I was intrigued and sat down to listen to <span style='\"font-size:'>what he had to say.<strong> \u201cWell, Tom, it sure sounds like you\u2019re busy with your job. I\u2019m sure they pay you well but it\u2019s 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\u2019s dance recital. \u201d He continued, <strong>\u201cLet me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.\u201d And that\u2019s when he began to explain his theory of a \u201cthousand marbles.\u201d\n<p><span style='\"font-size:'><strong>\u201cYou 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.\u201d \n<p><span style='\"font-size:'><strong>\u201cNow 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.&rdquo;\n<p><strong><span style='\"font-size:'>\u201cNow stick with me Tom, I\u2019m getting to the important part.&rdquo; \n<p><span style='\"font-size:'><strong>\u201cIt took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail\u201d, he went on, <strong>\u201cand by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. \u201c I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. <strong>\u201cSo 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. \u201c 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.\n<p><span style='\"font-size:'><strong>\u201cI 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. \u201c 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\u2026 <strong>\u201cIt 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!\u201d\n<p><span style='\"font-size:'>You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show\u2019s moderator didn\u2019t 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. <strong>\u201cC\u2019mon honey, I\u2019m taking you and the kids to breakfast.\u201d \n<p><span style='\"font-size:'><strong>\u201cWhat brought this on?\u201d she asked with a smile. <strong>\u201cOh, nothing special,\u201d I said. <strong>\u201d 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\u2019re out? I need to buy some marbles.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is one of my favorite stories showing us the importance of focusing on the important things in life\u2026 How many marbles do you have? The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it\u2019s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, of maybe it\u2019s the unbounded joy of\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":71377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. 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