What does this say about me?

Posted on 13. Feb, 2010 by in Leadership, Personal

boxesI keep the boxes my electronics come in. Almost all of them. I also keep boxes form Amazon or PetMeds. My reason? I say I’m an idealist. It’s always helpful to have boxes around for when you need to mail something or just put something… in a box. Well, that’s not entirely true. I keep a lot of my electronic boxes for more sentimental reasons. I guess that since I really like my electronics, I’m just reluctant to get rid of the box. What if I move? Nothing will hold my DVD player like the box it came in, right? Also, what if I needed to sell it for some reason. It’s going to sell better if I still have the box along with all the paperwork (which I keep in the box).

I know, I’ve got issues. My wife tolerates this tendency of mine, hut just barely.

I say I’m an idealist. I’m looking out for all my potential options. Someone else could say I’m paying it safe. I know one or two people who would just say I’m a packrat.

I bring this up only because it got me thinking about how perception often trumps the way things really are. I think one of my weaknesses is that I’m too idealistic. When I was a children’s pastor in Indiana, I never hung any pictures on the wall of my office. I hated the wall paper. My intention was to remove the wall paper and repaint. Then I would hang my pictures. It took a while to get authorization and when I did, I just didn’t have time to peel paper. So my pictures remained on the floor against one wall for 4 years. I shared this example of weakness with a potential employer many years ago. He said, “you want to know what your story tells me? It tells me that perhaps you were never really there… never fully present.”

I disagree with his perception. I do feel that I was fully there. I don’t think I ever felt it would be the place I’d work all my life, but I was present. Although perceptions can often be off, I do believe it is important to guard the perceptions we send out.

So, what perception does my silly box habit tell you?

Meet Kenny

Kenny Conley has written 1608 posts on CMO.

Kenny Conley is the primary author of Childrens Ministry Online and the NextGen Pastor at Gateway Church in Austin, TX. In addition to creating the Illuminate Conference, a high quality kidmin conference designed specifically for volunteers, Kenny is a published author and speaker. For more biographical info, click here.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Tags: , , ,

  • http://sp_jesse.livejournal.com Jesse

    I have/had the same habit…for one, it tells me that your heart is deceitful above all else…you’ve convinced yourself that you need those boxes and that you have a good reason to keep them.
    If you’re like me, it’s probably that you just like your electronics a little too much. Of course, I don’t know the real you, so please take that with a grain of salt.

    FWIW, I finally got tire of all the space those boxes take up and got rid of [most] of them

    Check out Horders on A&E (http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/) and I think you may get rid of some of those boxes :)
    .-= Jesse´s last blog ..2010 Reading List =-.

  • http://childrensministryonline.com Kenny

    I’ll have to check out that show.

    Deceitful heart… ouch. But sometimes the truth hurts a little.

    I think I also care too much. Again, it ties into my idealism. If I move.. I’ll find a way to pack everything up and it will all be okay. If I have to sell something, it won’t really hurt too much to not have a box. I’d probably say, “sure would be nice to have that box,” but in the end I’m not losing any sleep. Hmmm… I think I’m one more step toward going to the garage and breaking down some boxes. :)

  • Rebecca

    Take a picture and then donate them to someone who is presently in need of these amazing boxes.haha

    .