1000 matches

[gvij2000]

1000 matches

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 hand
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 matches." 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
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. 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
matches."

"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 I lived to
be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy".

"I bought a 1000 matches and put them inside of a large, clear plastic
container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday
since then, I have taken one match out and thrown it away."

"I found that by watching the matches diminish, I focus 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 match out of the container.

I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given
a little extra time. 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 while we're out? I
need to buy some matches...."

[Chota Sa Dil]

I must say this is a real eye opener. Mujhe lagtha hai ke aur logo ko yeh ache tara parhna chayee aur phir apne zindagi ke baree soochna chayee. After reading this I have realized a few things and decided to let go some and I hope others read this and realize a few of thier's as well. Good luck to all, life goes on. And please do sumbit more of these types of stories.

Chota sa dil

[subodhgupta]

Guess what, today when I logged in to Shayri.com, I wanted to post this same story!!

Never mind.. It was really nice reading it and I hope we learn a few lessons from it.

Subodh Gupta
I have learned, Joy is not in things, it is in us.