Apples to Apples?

In terminal one at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, right across from Chili’s, is a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory shop, where they have a standing offer that you can buy three caramel apples and get a fourth one free. The apples are fresh and dipped daily and are a tempting treat, but for many solo travelers it’s not possible to grab four caramel apples and run easily.

One traveler  ahead of me in line bought one caramel apple and ran off to his gate to catch his flight.

Another bought the four caramel apples and offered three to the next three of us in line she didn’t even know, just so she could get hers free.

We gladly took her up on her offer, and as she went on her way with our “thank yous” hanging in the air the traveler who had been standing right behind me commented what silliness it was for her to pay triple the price for the one apple she received.

I walked off processing his cynical comment. Mathematically he was right, of course. As transactions go, she had paid for three but she was only enjoying one.

In her mind, though, she had gotten a free caramel apple and showed a kindness to three fellow travelers in the process.

I guess if you really wanted to be mathematically faithful to the buy-three-get-one-free offer, you could have sold the three extra apples to recoup your purchase price. But who has time in a busy airport to try selling freshly made snacks in the middle of the terminal? No, you are most likely going to buy one or buy four for the price of three and not worry about the cost whether you plan on keeping them all for yourself or giving some away.

But the distinction is an important one. If you were a player in this scene, would you be stuck on the transaction, or would you be comfortable thinking beyond the transaction and sharing an unexpected kindness with three strangers? Your answer has implications beyond your pocketbook.

People stuck in transactional thinking understand how to get their money’s worth, but miss any value beyond the exchange of money-for-apples. It’s the proverbial “knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” Transactionalists don’t see the value of giving beyond what feeds their personal interests.

If you want to transform your life, you need to look beyond the monetary give-and-take of the transactions you conduct every day, and see the possibilities for generating new values: paying it forward, initiating relationships that create new connections to unforeseen possibilities, and generating new opportunities to achieve your goals...whether personal or professional.

I walked away firm in the conviction that I am not a transactionalist...cynically looking at life as a series of transactions is not for me. I want and expect more when my work is done...and I understand I have to give more than the cost of even-steven transactions in order to get more.

How’s it working for me? I have had doors open where I never saw a door before, and I can see possibilities for the future that I wouldn’t have imagined even a few short months ago. Life is amazingly full of surprising possibilities…if you are open to thinking and acting beyond what is immediately visible and measurable. Push yourself to think beyond the values on which you were raised. Look for ways to create new value. And be ready and receptive when opportunities to embrace new values present themselves. Our world is full of limitless possibilities...well...as limitless as your mind allows for them to be...