Concerning An Introspective Paradigm Shift Of The Warm & Fuzzy Variety

I've been having deep thoughts lately. Perhaps it's the spicy Italian sausages I've been consuming, or the pain medication I take. But whatever the reason, I've been giving considerable thought to what we do ... the selling of promotional products ... and how that fits into the grand scheme of things. Is there more to it than offering up a coffee mug with a three-color logo or successfully solving a complex marketing challenge? What if the answer to this question could change the way you think about what you do for a living? Could it actually trigger an introspective paradigm shift?

Well I've come up with an answer that is both deep and meaningful ... and not really funny. Normally I write "funny," so this is ... a growth experience for me. Moving forward, there aren't a lot of gags in this article. For me, THIS is Bold, Different and, hopefully, Memorable...

When we're born, we are assigned a number. This number consists of nine digits and is used to identify us for the rest of our lives. In addition to this primary number, as life continues and grows more complicated, we select or are assigned user names and passwords, and then variations of user names and variations of passwords (to trick the unsavory people who may have figured out our original user names and passwords to prevent them from stealing us and other numbers associated with us), all circulating, like planets around a sun, around that primary identifying nine-digit number.

It's soulless. This existence of ours can be so mechanized and soulless. That's why the little human moments are to be cherished, to be celebrated. Moments of tenderness, of joy, of humor, of desire, of faith. These moments counteract the cold, grey inevitability of our ongoing and constant numberization. They are the counterpoint of real emotion to the harshness of how much we earn and how much we owe and how much is left - surely the coldest number of all.