I turned 50 about 4 months ago. I still have not wrapped my head around the idea that I reached 50 years old. At times I still feel like I’m half that age (at least mentally). However, I am finally getting up the nerve to do something that I should have done long time ago.
About 10 years ago when I was turning 40 I heard of an idea of a man who purchased a tall glass jar and filled it with marbles. Each marble represented a Saturday. Figuring the average age when a man dies in America, and adding a few years, he counted up the number of marbles he would need to add to the jar. Every marble in his jar represented one Saturday he had left. Every Saturday he would take out one marble from his jar.
You quickly begin to realize that life is too short to waste your marbles. You begin to plan your days, your weeks, your months with things that matter. When you lose a marble, you cannot get it back. Each time you reach into the jar and pull out a marble, hold it in your hand, you want that marble to count.
Keep your eye on your own seasons, lest you lose sight of value and substance. ~ Jim Rohn
My Jar
I’m 50. I believe I can make it to 80. I do not feel that is too unreasonable as long as I take care of myself. After all, part of my goal is to make sure I have the health and strength to live out the rest of my days with vitality and purpose.
That means from this week, I have a total of 1,548 marbles in my jar.
That sounds like A LOT! But, I will begin losing my marbles faster than I realize. There’s no guarantee I will live to lose all my marbles. I hope I live long enough to outlast my marbles, but I am just filling my jar with what I believe is reasonable.
Now I just need to go down to Toys R Us and see if I can buy that many marbles!
Why Am I Really Doing This?
- Life is short.
- Life is way too short.
- Life is way too short to be living without purpose and meaning.
- Life is way too short to be doing things that I don’t really want to do (at least when I have choices).
- Life is way too short to not being doing things that matter.
- Life is way too short to be living someone else’s life.
- Life is way too short to be fulfilling someone else’s dreams.
- Life is way too short to be stressed out about crap that doesn’t really matter.
- Life is way too short to simply be wandering, wasting the moments.
- Life is way too short not to live.
Because of all this:
- I will live each day on purpose for the glory and the honor of God.
- I will do what I can each day to encourage others and help others look to the cross of Christ.
- I will do what I can each day to be found faithful.
- I will do what I can to make it hard to go to Hell from the city and neighborhood where I live.
- I will love my wife and let her know she is and always will be my beautiful and radiant bride.
- I will be faithful to my wife and she will know she is THE beauty worth rescuing.
- I will spend quality time with my kids so they know they are a priceless treasure in my life.
- I will teach, guide, and encourage my kids to be godly men and women.
- I will make connections with my family so that I am not a stranger down here in Texas.
- I will be a friend to my friends that is closer than a brother. I have wasted too much time being a part-time friend.
- I will work in a career that is my heart’s desire and in a field that I am passionate about.
- I will love my work so that my work is no longer work.
- I will play hard and build a life that fuels me to be a passionate person.
- I will take care of my health through proper eating and exercise. Period.
- I will live out my days with passion, purpose, hope, and integrity.
It’s a tall order for sure, but how else would I want to spend my marbles? I think I would rather spend my marbles than lose them.
I’m off to the store to find my jar and my marbles. This Saturday I will lose my first marble. I want to make it count beginning today.