A Thousand Marbles

THE WARM UP

I’ve had a lot of free time lately, now that I’m in a weird limbo period of my life (quitting my full time job and starting PA school soon).

Because of this, I’ve had a lot of time for reflection–which I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

Nonetheless, I’ve stumbled upon a chapter of my current favorite book, The Big Questions of Life by Om Swami, and he talked about the dilemma of balancing work and family.

This resonated with me because I have a tendency to adopt a “go-go-go” mindset, especially with the influence of today’s “hustle culture”.

I have such a deep desire and motivation to accomplish great things in life that I often neglect the things that matter most–spending time with family and friends.

In the grand scheme of things, these precious memories are the only things that matter in life. Every materialistic thing we “own” doesn’t come with us to the afterlife.

Either way, here’s an excerpt from the book that really puts things into perspective.

THE WORKOUT

“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, what began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. I was listening to my favorite Saturday program on radio where listeners would call in and share their issues and so on. And besides the host, other callers could also offer their perspective. Someone by the name of Tom made a call and shared how he had to stay away from his family due to the nature of his work but that the job paid him really well and that he was having the time of his life. He was thirty- two years old and his question was: what should his priority be – job or family? Another listener called in, an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself. He offered some advice I would never forget. ‘Well, Tom,’ he said, ‘it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. They must 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 secure his future. ‘Let me tell you something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities,’ the old man continued. ‘My theory of a thousand marbles. You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about 75 years. I know, some live more and some live less but on average, folks live about 75 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. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail and by that time I had lived through over 2800 Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I only had about 1100 of them left to enjoy. ‘So, I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had,’ the old man went on. ‘I ended up with 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large clear plastic container 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 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. I hope you spend more time with your loved ones. 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 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, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids.’

She jumped out of bed in excitement.

‘Plus,’ I said to her, ‘I need to buy some marbles.’”

[Excerpt from The Big Questions of Life by Om Swami]

THE COOLDOWN

This book by Om Swami is a gold mine for self-awareness and life lessons, but this particular excerpt really hit home with me.

We’ve all heard it, “time flies by”, and it's 100% true.

We truly only get so many “marbles” in this life, we’d be silly to waste them worrying about insignificant things or doing things that don’t bring us joy.

In the end, the message I’m trying to convey in this essay isn’t to go out and buy a jar of 3,900 marbles, but to spend some time in self reflection.

Reflect on what you spend most of your time doing and worrying about.

Then make adjustments as needed to ensure we’re utilizing the time we have being happy and doing the things that we want to do.

Life’s truly too short to be unhappy.

Be well and Keep Pluggin.

-C.