A Thousand Different...Meanings.

I have to admit that I've been intrigued by the promise of discovering them.

But first, I needed to go back and ponder the idea of "A Thousand Days" not being enough... even with the nights thrown in. I've been stuck on that one. Because well, yeah.. it's obvious. I mean, for somebody who is truly and eternally IN LOVE, this would only amount to about 2.9 years!.. (which is only slightly longer than my second marriage lasted and which, BTW, was plenty "enough" for me... and THEN some!) But generally speaking no... 1000 Days is definitely NOT enough. Not enough at all. Usually not even in the worst case scenario. Did we need him to tell us that???

So anyway, the point being... I just don't get it.

Or at least I didn't until yesterday while simultaneously reading a James Patterson novel while still contemplating the hidden meaning behind the "spinning ball." I don't know what came over me but I suddenly had this urge to google. And it was THEN that I found these...

Because what THAT led me to was even better... which was revisiting an essay I'd read a few years back. And it was only then, in the throws of epiphany, that I suddenly realized how I'd been taking this all too literally...

Read this and then tell me if everything doesn't seem a little more clear.

A Thousand Marbles
author Jeff Davis

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 basement shack 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 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 here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is 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. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

And so what could any of this mean to me? Well, at this point in my life I'm figuring I've got about the same number of marbles left... even though I am certain my children think I have lost 'em completely. And maybe I have. My marbles that is.

But anyway, I guess I was just thinking about it and wondering if there was any way I could begin dispersing those marbles just a little more equally... I mean, amongst those other things that I hold most precious and dear. I think Clay will understand.

I also wonder, in my most delusional mind of minds, if I may have just taken a stumble into HIS for a brief sec...

At any rate...999 different meanings and marbles left to go.