Inspirational Sunday: Peter Pan, Toodles, and The Lost Marbles

Do you recall the movie Hook with Robin Williams as Peter Pan?  He and his pals, the Lost Boys, grew up in Neverland, a place where most stayed children forever, never growing up, escaping all the responsibilities that come with age. Eventually they were “rescued” and did grow up. When they did, one particular Lost Boy, Toodles, was seen searching for his lost marbles. He searched high and low for that sack of marbles, to no avail!

Everyone believed Toodles had gone senile. Yet Toodles only appeared senile because no one knew the secret of those marbles. I like to think I do. I think each marble in that bag represented a possibility, a hope,  for Toodles. Without his marbles or “possibilities”, he was lost!

Just like Toodles, I use marbles to visualize my possibilities. Each year, I place 365 marblesin a vase. Each marble represents a day. In the evening, I remove one marble from the vase, reflecting on my day. As time passes, the vase gets emptier, reminding me that each day is precious…my marbles are precious. Unlike Toodles, a fictitious character, my marbles can be lost or “wasted”, but they can never be found.  They are irreplaceable.

In this game of marbles, you don’t need to “knuckle down” and there are no  “keepsies”.   One marble must be used every day. Each one bringing a fresh start,  a hope, a possibility. 

Now that you know the secret, how will you make your marbles count?  

My vase with 4 marbles left for the year