Ham Inspiration

	Hobbies, Awards, Inspirations, and much more...

Sharing some thoughts sent to me...

Good morning everyone - 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 basement shack 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 dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, 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 it's hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."

He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, 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 Tom, 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 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 the sack next to my gear. 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 that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a bonus Saturday, and the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. 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, it's 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 friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." -Winnie the Pooh

"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost." --- Charles Caleb Colton

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend."---Albert Camus.

"Strangers are just friends waiting to happen."

"Friends are the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life."

"Friendship is one mind in two bodies." --- Mencius

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."

"If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend."---Stone Temple Pilots

"I'll lean on you and you lean on me and we'll be okay."---Dave Matthews Band

"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say."

"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."--- Tim McGraw

"My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life." ---Lee Iacocca

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." ---unknown

"A true Friend will ride with you until hell freezes over, and then a little on the
ice." ---Old Cowboy saying

Pass this on to all of your FRIENDS, even if it means sending it to the person that sent it to you. And if you receive this web page address many times from many different people, it only means that you have many FRIENDS.

And if you get it but once, do not be discouraged for you will know that you have AT LEAST ONE GOOD FRIEND.
........And that's ME.