Each morning that I have walked into Starbucks, over the past week, I have noticed a fairly large and modestly decorated cardboard box on the floor. It sits next to three display baskets, stocked with Starbucks coffee beans and other products that are for sale.
Printed along one side of the box is a handwritten message inviting customers to donate old blankets and towels to a local animal shelter.
Noble cause.
High traffic area
Reasonable request
So why, with hundreds of customers passing through the store each day, are there still only three towels sitting at the base of this cavernous box?
I think the reason is because Starbucks, like so many of us, confuse the act of doing something with the act of doing it like you mean it.
But don't think I am bashing Starbucks. I'm not.
I am simply using Starbucks as an example. We all have poorly placed, easily ignored cardboard boxes in our lives. Don't we? These are the commitments we make, but that we tuck in the corner, hoping by some miracle, that the box will fill itself. Coordinate a class project, participate in a local organization, learn a new sport, take on a new work opportunity, or your commitment to the Year Of...
We make room for these cardboard boxes because, in theory, they sound like great ideas. Who, after all, would argue that philanthropy is anything but good? Yet, done half heartedly the empty donation box can begin feeling like clutter in an already crowded space. Many weeks, the commitments in my calendar feel the same - like clutter in an already crowded space.
Maybe the question that we, along with Starbucks, should ask ourselves is this: What kind of time and effort will it take to fill this box like you mean it and not have it feel like clutter in an already crowded space? And, if filling it requires more time and effort than you are able to give, then respectfully allow someone else to collect towels for the animal shelter. That way you can focus on making and selling coffee.
Visit us in the comment section and tell us about one of the empty boxes creating clutter in your life.
Shining off until tomorrow...