Being loved this much should make a difference in your life.
Remember the One who loves you, and then be different because
of it.
THE
1OOO MARBLES
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 kitchen 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 volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday
morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden
voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in
the broadcasting business himself. He was talking about "a
thousand marbles" to someone named "Sharon."
I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Sharon, 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
Sharon, 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 Sharon, 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 my workshop next to
the radio. 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 God has blessed me with
a little extra time to be with my loved ones...... It was
nice to talk to you Sharon, I hope you spend more time with
your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have
a good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the
show's moderator didn't have anything to say for a few moments.
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned
to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. 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," I said. " It has 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."
A CARROT, AN EGG, AND A CUP OF COFFEE
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same
way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her
about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did
not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up
She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one
problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled
three pots with water and placed each on a high fire Soon
the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in
the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground
coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a
word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.
She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She
pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it
in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell
me what you see."
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her
to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.
The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break
it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled
egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip
the coffee.
The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked,
"What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects
had faced the same adversity: boiling water.
Each reacted differently. The carrot went in
strong, hard, and unrelenting.
However, after being subjected to the boiling
water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell
had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through
the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however.
After they were in the boiling water, they had
changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter.
"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that
seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become
soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart,
but changes with the heat?
Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death,
a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have
I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same,
but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit
and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually
changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the
pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and
flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their
worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest,
do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle
adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
THOUGHTS TO PONDER
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials
to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough
hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of
everything; they just make the most of everything that comes
along their way.. The brightest future will always be based
on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you
let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you
was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one
who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
It's easier to build a child than repair an adult. This is
so true.
“A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart
enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”
- John Maxwell
GOLD WRAPPING PAPER
I received this from a friend who had a choice to make. It
said that I had a choice to make too.
I've chosen. Now it's your turn to choose.
The story goes that some time ago a mother punished her five
year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping
paper. Money was tight and she became even more upset when
the child used the gold paper to decorate a box to put under
the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her
mother the next morning and then said, "This is for you,
Momma."
The mother was embarrassed by her earlier over reaction,
but her anger flared again when she opened the box and found
it was empty. She spoke to her daughter in a harsh manner.
"Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a
present there's supposed to be something inside the package?"
She had tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Momma, it's
not empty! I blew kisses into it until it was full."
The mother was crushed. She fell on her knees and put her
arms around her little girl, and she begged her forgiveness
for her thoughtless anger.
An accident took the life of the child only a short time
later, and it is told that the mother kept that gold box by
her bed for all the years of her life.
Whenever she was discouraged or faced difficult problems
she would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and
remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each of us, as human beings, have been
given a Golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses
from our children, family, friends and GOD. There is no more
precious possession anyone could hold.
THE DAFFODIL PRINCIPLE
Several times my daughter had telephoned
to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before
they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour
drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next
Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third
call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still,
I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally
walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds
of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.
"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn!
The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is
nothing in the world except you and these children that I
want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"
My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We
drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you
won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm
heading for home!" I assured her.
"But first we're going to see the daffodils.
It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive.
I'm used to this."
"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please
turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise.
You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a
small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side
of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that
read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car,
each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the
path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight.
It looked as though someone had taken a great
vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding
slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns,
great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon
yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored
variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and
flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were
five acres of flowers.
"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn.
"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives
on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to
a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the
midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.
On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers
to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline.
The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs,"
it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one
woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third
answer was, "Began in 1958."
For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.
I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than
forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring
her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting
one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had
forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a
time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence,
beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden
taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.
That is, learning to move toward our goals
and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at
time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the
accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time
with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we
can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world
...
"It makes me sad in a way,"
I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished
if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty
years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through
all those years? Just think what I might have been able to
achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day
in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.
She was right. It's so pointless to think of
the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson
of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask,
"How can I put this to use today?"
Use the Daffodil Principle.
Stop waiting.....
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...
There is no better time than right now to behappy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination, so work like you
don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.
"Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that
it will never begin."
Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!
~anonymous
