So I got reusable grocery bag. . .right away I noticed a defect:
I said to myself, "Sometimes I feel just like that!"---my weaknesses and faults and inadequacies and deficiencies and imperfections stamped right on the front of me for all to see! As it has hung on my door for a few days a little analogy has formed in my mind.
When this bag was a plastic bottle, it had a purpose and value--it held water. And then when the water was being consumed, it was carried and appreciated because it helped quench thirst. But then, suddenly, it was useless. Situations had changed and the bottle was left without purpose. Perhaps it was put in a garbage and left until a recycler saw value in it. The value was not what the bottle had originally known, but that would be okay since the bottle could again have purpose. It then went through a very rigorous and probably painful process of crushing and melting and who knows what else, to become a new useful creation. The change was great and the bottle would not be recognized at all. But its new life would be okay, at least it could be serviceable again. Then to make sure there would be no identity issues, the maker of the new bag stamped in bold the bag's origin. While a new item, the bag was not yet perfect because of that stamp. HOWEVER. . . . and here was the important part for me. . . the bag is still very serviceable! As glaring as this bag's imperfection is, it still has value and can do what it was made to do---that is not changed at all by the imperfection--unless it does not ever get used. And then the whole process of becoming something of value again would be wasted.
Lots of connections can be made from that analogy. . . .but the one that hits home to me right now is that I don't have to be perfect to be of value or to be serviceable--especially since I'm feeling very overwhelmed by my inadequacies right now. Very good timing for these meandering thoughts. . . .
Do you have any other thoughts that could be added to this analogy? Other applications or implications? I'd love to hear them!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
I Used to Be a Palstic Bottle
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2 comments:
"Wow" is my first thought. That was pretty deep - and quite a beautiful thought. I have felt more than imperfect lately. Thanks for making me feel a little more serviceable.
Analogy #2: Sometimes labels can be damaging to our self-esteem. We sometimes wear our feelings about our pasts on our shirts--"I used to be a palstic bottle--and as you can see just by the spelling, I wasn't worth much." Our feelings of our past can sometimes take a long time to repair. Maybe the label was a "sinful" one that was repented of; maybe it was a "good" standing that fell. Who we are today and where we are currently heading is more important than where we have been and who we once were but sometimes we have a hard time moving forward because of past labels.
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