Is the glass tumbler half full or half
empty? A question frequently asked to discern a person’s outlook or
perspective.
If I looking at said tumbler and see it
half empty, it’s common opinion that I look at life and complain
about what I don’t have and the problems I face, and how I do not
have the resources to solve them.
Most people, mainly involved with self
development and its education, would advice me to be grateful for
what I already have (the half full glass) and see any problems as
part of my life; prioritize them so that I can live my life as
lovingly, happily, peacefully, productively as possible.
Here’s another take … (and it’s
an extension of the half-full-view)
What good is glass tumbler full or half
full of water? What’s useful in this scenario is most often the
water. If I’m thirsty, or I’d like to wash my hand or mouth, that
water is useful. The impact of the water’s existence is that I have
quenched my thirst, or have washed my hands or mouth – a want or
need that I have satisfied … and am happy.
Better still, I could offer this water
to someone who is thirsty … and be happy that I have satisfied the
want or need of a “neighbor” (in the Biblical sense) who I am
admonished in the Ten Commandments to love as myself!
Would it not be a different, maybe
happier, approach if we can measure not what we have, but what impact
it has on ours’ and others’ lives; what impact it has on ours’
and others’ happiness, contentedness and other likable attributes
that describe our state of being emotionally.
The true value of things, tangible or
otherwise, can be more correctly determined by what effect or impact
it has on us - our lives and its various states of being; and on
others’ lives, especially those who we wish well, and those who
wish us well.
Let’s look at discerning true value.
Be happy!
