A Brief Reflection……

  Several weeks ago I wrote a column about the glass being half full or half empty. Recently several people have commented about some of my thoughts and ideas and what had prompted me to write about a glass of water. After a brief discussion, one person confessed that he had become more aware of the significance of looking at his life and his accomplishments as being successful or where there some things that he needed to do, refill the glass so to speak, in an effort to see life with greater success and a more positive outlook and attitude regardless of his age.

   As I recently walked by the kitchen counter I noticed that I had left a glass of water sitting there on the counter, forgetting to put it in the dishwasher. I dumped what was left in the glass down the drain, opened the dishwasher door and placed the glass on the shelf and closed the door in preparation for the next dish washing. Then…. I suddenly thought. Had the glass been half empty or half full? Did I really care? And how often do we go through life picking up a glass, or more likely in my case a coffee cup, not noticing how much was left in it or what it contained?  How often do we go through life not realizing what we have done, what we have not completed or missed because we viewed our life, as we may do to the glass, as either only being half full or half empty.

   Life is a lot more complicated than a glass (or coffee cup) that is either half full or half empty. But I do think it serves as a good, simple example of how we live our lives, what we believe about ourselves and more importantly, who we  become, depending upon whether we see the glass half full or half empty.  Do I live my life as an optimist or a pessimist?

   At times, the glass does not always remain full because of life and living. Whether we will admit it or not, changes can affect  us and we sometimes may need to take steps to refill glass as we continue throughout our lives. And the route we take to keep the glass full is often determined by how we have filled it in the past. The way I may decide to keep my glass filled today is very different than the way I may have done so 40 years age. But I need to remember that I can build upon those experiences and any lessons I learned back then and I hope that I did not just dump life learnings down the drain in order to simply  empty the glass and start over.

   I am well aware the life ahead of me is much shorter than what I have experienced to date, but time, while it can be a key factor in life and success, does not always determine outcomes and results. Yes, I will never play professional football, but that does not mean that I can no longer enjoy the game. I just need to find different  ways to in which to gain and feel the excitement of the game. I just need to find positive ways to keep the glass filled.

   I very rarely will rework, or in this case, reword, a previous column but, the comments that folks have shared with me the past several weeks have kept thinking and I thank them for that. Those who follow my writing know that I have spent time recently “downsizing” around the house, cleaning out drawers and closets and preparing for the future. I know that the future may be different from the past, but that is part of the excitement of what is next and what I have learned in getting to this point of life is that it is still important whether I see the glass on the counter as being either half full or half empty.

   By the way, I took the glass out of the dishwasher, rinsed it out and filled it to the top again.

  

  

  

 

Half Full or Half Empty…..

   The glass  sat on the kitchen counter still containing a bit of iced tea.  After careful analysis by those in the room, it was determined that some thought the glass was half full while others saw it as half empty.

   Some people might say that there were two points of view possible in this situation, but in fact there are three. The first group looks at the glass and sees the glass half full. The second group sees the glass half empty. The third group doesn’t see the glass at all and only laments the lack of enough iced tea.

   How we view the glass may determine how we see our lives and the world in which we live.

   One only needs to look at the events around us to see that people react to things that effect in our lives in very different ways. There are a number of events around the world today that are affecting the lives of families and friends. As reported, the number of deaths seems to be overwhelming . The deaths and personal injuries being suffered by many would be enough to cause one to look at things and life in these events as “half empty” at best or more likely to decline to see anything positive at all.

   Many might look at situations and events and say that this is part of our existence  and life in the world today and we just need to move forward, get over it one might say. It is a glass half full and these types of situations have always been part of living.

   Each day we are bombarded with news and pictures of horror and tragedy, whether it be wars and conflicts around the world or places within our own country hit with unbelievable situations and suffering caused by violent weather and storms. At least once a week I threaten to stop reading the news or refuse to turn on news broadcasts in an attempt to lessen the onslaught of the bad and the ugly.

   Is it the influence of the media that determines our view  of a half fill or half empty glass?

   But human nature being what it is, it’s not too long  before I read the articles of turn on the television to get my daily dose of world events. And every once and a while, tucked quietly between the stories of sadness and disaster are stories of hope and joy.

   So now we have optimists and pessimists. The optimist will tell you the glass is half full while the pessimist will tell you it is half empty. The person who doesn’t see the glass at all is just angry or in despair and can tell you nothing.

   It is interesting that on all avenues life is made up of a system of checks and balances.

   Whether it is Nature at work or the way we think, people see things differently. Out of a give and take may emerge something far better and that may not be a bad thing.

   It is encouraging that despite differing views,  there are times when most of us come together for a greater good. It is too bad, however, that often it takes a crisis or emergency, a military conflict, or a disastrous storm to provide the motivation for us to work together.

   Now about that glass on the counter? Both sides finally agree the regardless of how much  tea is in it, it’s time to  either fill it up again or put it in the dish washer.