This concept of paying for something and receiving a small piece of paper in return intrigues me. We receive this token that reminds us of the worth of something we just bought to take home and mark down in a book of other things that we’ve bought and what they’re worth. We can see the value of the food we eat, the clothes we where, how much we were willing to spend to see a movie, the price of an education; we get receipts for all these things.
These days we can even go as far as trying to figure out how much money we should spend on a family member or friend when they’re birthday or Christmas comes along. “How much is Tom really worth? If I spend this much money on Sally, than should Tom get that much too? Will Tom spend this much on me? If I spend this much on Tom than will I get a good gift in return?” We keep track of all these expenditures when we’re told how much we’re charged as we hear the plastic swipe. But there are moments we don’t get those receipts.
These moments all have one thing in common: we don’t think how much it cost us, but what it brought to others. We don’t get a receipt for paying that 50 cents for a cup of lemonade from little Jimmy down the street on that hot summer day. When little Jimmy see’s those coins drop into his collection jar, his face lights up like the 4th of July, which in turn makes us smile back, even through the pucker since Jimmy got his lemon/sugar ratio a little off. And when you see a smile like that, it’s almost impossible not to leave a good tip, that’s first class service. It takes us back to when things used to be simpler, when moments of joy were only a footstep away instead of a rarity in a “go, go, go and then go some more” world.
I think it’s amazing the amount we value the tangibles in our day to day lives. We need the newest thing on the market, the biggest, the smallest, the most expensive, whatever it’s feature is that sets it apart from other products, we want it. And in turn, we get that receipt that sometimes tells us how much we think we’re worth. What if we were more occupied with our intangibles that are in our day to day lives? Parents are amazing with this, but they’ll quickly jump back into the pool of judging based on worth right away when put in different environments, we all do from time to time.
An 8 year old boy on his way home from playing at a friend’s house spots some dandelions by the sidewalk. He picks them and upon arrival home, runs to his mother and gives them to her simply for “being the best”. She displays them front and center in a tiny vase for everyone of her neighbors and friends to see when they come over.
After running errands and getting ice cream with her dad, a child enters her father’s office when seeing where daddy works because he needs to swing by and pick up a few things, and she notices there’s no color. The next day while heading out the door, the father notices there’s a drawing in his briefcase of his daughter and himself sharing some ice cream and signed “From: Laura” on it. He hangs it up at work and receives comments on the colorful drawing every time a client enters his workspace. And each time, he gets to brag about his little lady. These are moments not easily forgotten that we carry with us. These are the receipts that count.
Why don’t we judge how much we’re worth from these receipts instead of the receipt for the 42-inch plasma that we got talked into when looking for a 30-inch? Do they bring as much satisfaction to us as the time we knew how truly fortunate we were and made pies to take to the People’s City Mission for Thanksgiving and received a “thank you” in return?
Make it a point to collect these type of receipts and save them for when reflecting on what your worth is instead of your account balance. Next time the plastic swipes, try and remember the lemonade, dandelions, drawings and pies in your life…
Spoken like someone who has never filled out a 1040 long