Counting Marbles

Prolog

Midway upon the journey of our life
I found that I was in a dusky wood;
For the right path, whence I had strayed, was lost.

—Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto I

I was inspired to write this blog for reasons not greatly dependent on losing my way, but caused by the realization that the way was dramatically shorter than I had realized.

It began, as many of my excursions lately have begun, with a simple request to ChatGPT.

How Many Weeks Left?

I queried ChatGPT:

What do the actuarial tables predict for my remaining number of weeks, starting last Sunday? White cisgender male.

The answer was somewhat complex.

The 2021 Social Security Administration (SSA) Period Life Table is the most recent official U.S. source. For a white, cisgender male your age, the average life expectancy is approximately:

8.08 years, or roughly 421 weeks.

That's the midpoint — some will live longer, some shorter. You're healthy and active, so the average may be a conservative benchmark.

Then ChatGPT added some nuanced adjustments.

You could add or subtract marbles based on:

• Excellent health, strong social ties, mental stimulation → +10 to +50 marbles.
• Medical conditions, major stressors → −10 to −50 marbles.
• Family longevity (parents lived to 90s) → +30 marbles.
• Lifestyle: regular gym, social engagement, cognitive activity (Freemasonry, Toastmasters, writing) → +40 marbles.
  
  
  So a reasonably optimistic adjusted estimate for someone like you might be:
  
  
  500 to 550 weeks — around 9.5 to 10.5 years.

You'll notice that the estimate has been converted to "marbles". One marble = 1 Week. That will become clearer as we explore this a bit more.

Realization

Well, ten years is quite a long time, but of course, it's not forever. Further, ten years is a lot shorter time "to go" than my lived life "is gone". When you're 20 or 30 years old, life does seem like "forever," but late in life, you suddenly realize that not only is it finite, but "finite" is a lot closer than you thought.

Once that idea sinks in you must inevitably ask the question:

How do I make the most of the time remaining?

Counting Marbles

The first thing I did was to order 500 marbles and two jars from Amazon. Then, I made a couple of easels out of some scrap Coroplast I had lying about, and labeled each jar. One jar is called "Dreams" and the other is called "Memories". I dumped all the marbles into the jar called Dreams, and that has become the jar with the remaining weeks of my expected life.

If you're like me, you replenish your week's supply of meds on Saturday morning. Now I have added another task to that pill-dispensing ritual, and I remove one marble from Dreams, and drop it in Memories.

While also serving as an intriguing conversation piece, its main function is to remind me on a regular weekly basis to assess the time remaining and the time passed since the start of tracking, and further to reflect a little on the week just past, to see if I have really lived my life in accordance with some elusive abstract goals.

You may be wondering what happens if the Dreams jar contains more or fewer marbles than I actually need. If life is shorter than the Dreams jar foretells, that becomes my Executor's problem. If the Dream jar runs out of marbles before my time of departure, I'll change the sign that says Dreams to one that says Bonus. I'll then remove one marble from Memories every week and drop it in Bonus, as a reminder that I am now realizing an exceptional benefit that not everyone receives.

So now it should be plain why for me, saying that a task or project costs three marbles is a rough estimate of the time I plan to invest in a particular activity. The questions become,

Is this worth two marbles for me to tackle? Or should I invest my marbles more productively?

I now have a metric that lets me know in broad terms how I'm spending my time. But there is another, and more important, consideration. It's not enough to spend the marble. What matters is not only spending the marble, but also the quality of the marble-eating effort.

Qualitative Considerations

Choices for qualitative effort will vary with individuals. Probably the single greatest determinant for any individual ranking his or her activities will be that individual's values. Asking yourself,

What do I really value?

will largely determine your life's priorities and your marble investments. Here are a few suggestions for you to explore that will help determine your core values that will, in turn, guide your future thinking:

🧭 Personal Values Assessment Tools

Each of these tools is free and provides actionable insight.

Abstract Goals

After you have explored your personal core values, you might apply the knowledge that you've gained to prioritizing some goals and objectives.

Moving a marble every Saturday is a mechanical act, made with the intention of sparking a philosophical act. Here are some philosophical, abstract goals worth considering. The following list is not exhaustive, but provides a starting point for identifying your own "Dreams".

🔍 Awareness and Meaning

• Cultivate presence – Live in the moment rather than drifting through it.
• Seek meaning, not just activity – Prioritize depth over volume.
• Reflect regularly – Use journaling or meditative reflection to assess alignment.

🧭 Inner Compass

• Act with integrity – Let your remaining time reflect your principles.
• Align actions with legacy – Ask: “What do I want to leave behind, even in small ways?”
• Be intentional, not habitual – Let deliberate choices replace old routines.

🧠 Growth and Curiosity

• Keep learning – Not to compete, but to grow.
• Challenge assumptions – Rethink what you “know” to keep your mind agile.
• Share your knowledge – Pass it forward while you can.

❤️ Connection and Generativity

• Deepen relationships – Be the one who reaches out, forgives, or thanks.
• Mentor others – Invest in someone else's path, even modestly.
• Create moments of joy – Simple experiences have lasting echoes.

🎨 Creative and Expressive Life

• Leave a trace – A story, a photo, a recording, a bit of yourself for others to find.
• Create beauty or clarity – In code, prose, image, or sound.
• Speak your truth – Express what matters while your voice is clear.

🕊️ Peace and Resolution

• Let go of baggage – Forgive, release, unburden.
• Finish old business – Not everything, but the parts that matter most.
• Accept mystery – Some questions won’t be answered. That's okay.

Any one of these could shape a week's worth of reflection or action. But they’re not a checklist—they’re lenses you can look through to guide the days ahead. You may also discover your own, unique goals not included in this list. Don't hesitate to adapt these to suit your own, distinctly unique and human personality.

Conclusion

There really is only one conclusion to this journey, and that is, that sooner or later it will end. In truth, it is part of the cycle of life, nothing more, nothing less. While you are a part of that cycle, enjoy the ride. Think of it as

🎧 John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine – BBC Proms 2014

It's exciting as hell as long as it lasts, and

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
—C.P.Cavafy, Ithaka

Postscript

Counting Marbles

by Milan Vydareny

For all who measure life not by time alone, but by meaning.

Into the jar, one marble drops,
The weeks go marching, never stop.
Some are clear, some swirl and gleam—
A life lived wide, a life in stream.

With rapid pace our time does pass
Aware at last, we pause for breath;
What now is cherished as a Memory
Was once a vision of Dreams to be.

So let each marble mark the way,
A vow to live, not drift or stray.
To shape the day with will and grace,
And leave our mark upon this place.

The quest for we who value life
Lies not in anger, war, or strife,
But in the work of arm and heart—
Gifts we shape for life’s new start.

The poem Counting Marbles was written using collaborative development between the author and his excellent assistant, ChatGPT.