2002 Nov 14: A Thousand Marbles (A Slice of Life by Eugene Loh)

From: "Eugene Loh" [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 15:42:04 +0800
Subject: A SLICE OF LIFE - A Thousand Marbles
A Thousand Marbles
As we go about our daily activities of going to work, rushing through
meals, fetching the kids from school, attending meetings, buying the
groceries and so on, death is probably the furthest thought from our minds.
Isn't it strange that we spend so little, if any, of our waking hours
contemplating the one thing that can prevent us from ever waking up again?
Human beings are specialists at taking things for granted. For many of us,
the miracle of waking up at the start of each day is often rendered
mundane, even distressing, by the thought of having to drag our sleepyheads
to work.
But will we still allow the marvel of each drawn breath to elude us if we
were conscious of the fact that our next breath could be the last?
If there's one thing that diminishes as surely as the waning rays of the
evening sun, it's our time left on earth. It is a consistent and perpetual
contraction that has no hope of replenishment.
Aside from work, how are we using the time given to us? How much value do
we try to gain from it? How much of the little time we have left do we
devote to the happiness of our loved ones? Because as surely as our days
are numbered, so are theirs.
A man once figured out that given his age and the average life span of a
human being, he had only about a thousand Saturdays left. So he decided to
fill up a clear plastic container with a thousand marbles to represent his
remaining weekends. Every Saturday, he would take out one marble and throw
it away.
This gave him a tangible visual representation of the amount of leisure
time he had left to devote to his loved ones and family. It was a great
reminder to live and love to the fullest with what little time he had left.
When he had emptied the container of marbles, he figured that if he made it
to the following weekend, he would have been given a little extra time.
Now, we could all use a little extra time. And we will feel all the more
keenly the significance of how we use that time because it's a bonus. We
didn't deserve it. We didn't work for it. We couldn't have done anything to
get it if it didn't happen. But it did. And therefore, we have to spend it
meaningfully, intentionally, lovingly and magnificently.
How many marbles have you got left?
WRITTEN BY EUGENE LOH.
STORY ADAPTED FROM AN EMAIL OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN.
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