I was sent the following story by a person I’ve been working with as a result of being the Editor of Army Engineer magazine. Our Army Engineer “family” is quite large, and when you are involved as I am in reporting on many of the stories originating therein, I’m often the recipient (via email) of some nicely written original materials, many of which I often like to share with others. I’ve taken the main point of an original article sent to me and condensed it into a more concise presentation. It involves a theory of “a thousand marbles” and may help you keep things in proper perspective, the older you get.
First, assume that most of us really enjoy Saturday mornings, perhaps because of the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise in the family, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a typical Saturday morning are usually enjoyable for most of us.
Now, consider the following. Wikipedia (online encyclopedia) lists our average lifespan today as 80. Take that number and multiply it by 52 (the number of Saturday mornings in an average lifetime) and you arrive at a figure of 4160. Take your current age (say it’s 50) and multiply that number also by 52. You get 2600. Subtract that number from 4160 and you arrive at the future number of Saturday mornings you have left to enjoy, assuming all goes according to averages.
Next step is to go and buy an amount of marbles equal to the number of future Saturday mornings you have left to enjoy, and place them in a container that you keep readily available, say a glass container. Each Saturday morning, remove one marble and throw it away. Then, over time, as you watch the number of marbles decline, you will probably focus more on the truly important priorities in your life. As the original author said so well, “There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out, to help get your priorities straight." He added at the end of his story, "Now let me tell you one last thing. 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."
Thanks to Marion Chard for passing the original story to me, and thanks to the author for writing such appropriate words of advice.
