What are your Priorities?
We all have many things w,balance,love,relationshipse want to get done or feel we need to get done. Most people need to work to pay their bills. Most people have family, friends and hobbies that they want to spend time with. Some people like to exercise to watch TV. There are many things we like to do in a day. Sometimes we lose track of what is most important. Without balance we can lose focus. Here is a good story I was sent the other day:
3900 Saturdays
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. 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 garage 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 whomever 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. It’s too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital,” he continued; “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep 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 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 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside 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’s 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 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.
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. This is a 75 year old man, 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, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”
Source: Email from Simple Truths
What do you feel from the story?
I like stories that can touch your feelings and make you think. Today is a good day to look at if your life is balanced or not. Let me know your thoughts and ideas. Please also share stories you feel that would be good to help others. You can e-mail me at mills.management@hotmail.comor join me at facebook or linkedin. Have a great day.
Quote of the Day
“Live your life as an Exclamation, not an Explanation.” — Source unknown
Follow me at twitter Bruce Mills at http://www.twitter.com/money720
Choose to be Positive Today
Why not Choose to be Happy today instead of mad. We all can choose the minute we wake up if we want to have a great day or a bad day. Once you get out of bed why not tell yourself that today is going to be a great day. Talk about some things that you are going to accomplish today. It is so much better to choose to have a great day. Something good to read when your wake up could be the Optimist Creed. It says;
The Optimist Creed
Promise Yourself…
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something special in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Source: Optimist International
Make today a great day
Why not try reading the above creed first thing when you wake up in the morning for thirty days and see if it helps you. Try living by the message also. What do you do in the morning that helps you get motivated to make it a great day? Let me know your ideas and thoughts to help others. Also please join my facebook and Linkedin using my e-mail of mills.management@hotmail.com. Have a great day.
Follow me at twitter Bruce Mills at http://www.twitter.com/money720
