The Thousand Marbles

I heard a guy on the radio talking about ‘a thousand marbles’ to someone named Yunus:

‘Well, Yunus, it sounds like you're busy with your job. It’s a shame you have to be away from your family so much. Too bad you missed your daughter going into Qur’aan. Let me tell you something that helped me keep a good perspective on my priorities.’ And he explained his theory of ‘a thousand marbles.’ ‘I sat down one day and did a little math. The average person lives about 75 years. I multiplied 75 by 52 and came up with 3,900-the number of Sundays the average person has in a lifetime. It took me until I was 55 to think about all this and by then I’d lived through over 2,800 Sundays. I thought if I lived to be 75, I only had about a 1,000 left to enjoy. So I went to 3 toy shops and bought 1,000 marbles. I took put them in a large, clear container next to the radio. Every Sunday I’ve taken one out and thrown it away. By watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There’s nothing like watching your time on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. This morning I took the last marble out. I figure if I make it until next Sunday then Allah has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones.’

He gave me a lot to think about. Instead of playing soccer, I woke my wife with a kiss. ‘C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.’ ‘What brought this on?’ she asked. ‘Oh, nothing special,’ I said. ‘It’s just been a long time since we spent a Sunday with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy shop while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.’