Food For Thought - "Redemption"

"Redemption"
C2003 Gail Pursell Elliott
 

Years ago various retailers used to give out stamps with each purchase that could be saved in booklets and then traded at a redemption store for merchandise.   What you could get varied with the number of booklets you had filled and also what kind of merchandise was available.  There were a number of these stamp companies that competed with each other and for retailers.

If you weren’t interested in saving the stamps of course you didn’t have to.
If you liked what one company’s redemption center had to offer more than another, you could go out of your way to shop at places that offered those stamps.

Some people looked at the offerings and specifically saved up enough booklets to get what they wanted.
Others just threw the stamps in a drawer and forgot about them. Then one rainy afternoon took them all out and pasted them into the booklets to see how many they had accumulated.
Still others just threw the stamps out with the trash.

Some psychologists have made reference to “emotional stamp collecting” with regard to saving up negative experiences rather than dealing with them at the time and leaving them behind.  When the book is full, the person will explode or cash in all the stamps at once, appearing to over react to a small offense.  Out of proportion to the stimulus.

Our thoughts, words and actions are similar to the stamps that retailers used to offer.  We have no idea what the recipients will do with them.   Whether they will remember them and save them carefully, whether they will let them accumulate to be suddenly cashed in either with us or elsewhere, or whether they will discard them and move on.

People may only receive one or two of these “stamps” from us – but they do leave their mark and contribute to the whole life experience of each individual.

What are we offering?
Love or hate?
Acceptance or rejection?
Clarity or confusion?
Truth or falsehood?
Response or reaction?
Kindness or judgement?

What type of personal stamp we’re handing out is up to us.
What type of redemption opportunity we offer is our choice.
What each individual does with that opportunity is up to them.
What we do with the stamps we receive from others is up to us.

Regardless of our choices, we are leaving our personal stamp on the world and on those around us.   Becoming aware of what we’re handing out is an exercise in personal power.  We have the power to choose dignity and respect, insight and awareness, which can positively impact the whole, regardless of how small our large our contribution seems to be.

Have a Great Day and be good to yourself.  You deserve it!

Gail

Food For Thought is part of the Dignity and Respect message that is Innovations.

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