Marbles

Tom woke up and looked at the digital clock by his bedside. It was 7am on a Sunday morning. He climbed out of bed to get ready to go to his office to finish up on his work. His wife stirred, but did not wake. Afterall, she was used to him going to work on Sunday mornings.

On his way out to the main road, he bumped into an old family friend - David. They exchanged greetings and pleasantries and David went on to ask where Tom was going so early on a Sunday morning. Tom replied to say that he was going to his office. David contemplated for a while before saying: "Tom, I'm sure you have a good job, which pays you very well, and that you are very committed to and passionate about your job. However, have you thought if it was worth it to give up your Sunday mornings to your work? Do you remember when was the last time you had breakfast with your wife?"

David went on to say, "I have done some simple math, and on the average, most of us live up to 75 years of age. That is approximately 3900 Sundays. 3900, it's not a very large number. Unfortunately, I did this math when I was 55, so then I had only about 1040 Sundays left. So I made a decision that day. I went to a toy store, and asked the salesman if he had 1040 marbles for sale. The first one I went to did not have that many, so I went to 3 toy stores and eventually got myself all 1040 marbles. I went home and put all of them in a plastic container. From that day on, every Sunday, the first thing I did when I woke, was to take one marble from that plastic container, and put it into a box. Then, I will bring my wife for breakfast and we will go to church together. It's pretty scary to see my life dwindle away with the marbles I take out to put in the box every Sunday."

David paused to take a deep breath. And then he said, "This morning when I woke, I took out my last marble." With that, he patted Tom on his shoulder, and went on his way with a smile. By this time, Tom was rooted to the ground. He was deeply affected by what he just heard from David. It was the most profound thing he had heard in his life. He turned and sprinted back to his house, and roused his wife and said to her: "Honey, let's go have breakfast together! And on our way back, can we drop by the toy store?"

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I do not know how many marbles you have left in your life. I have approximately 2600 Sundays left in my life. But I have loved ones whose marbles are dwindling just like David's are. I will make it a point to count my marbles, and spend quality time with them, so that someday, when our marbles are finally gone, I will not look back with regret.