How Full Is Your Cup?

Of all the lessons I learned from my father, viewing my cup as half-full is one of the most valuable. 

The Internet, the television and the newspapers are filled with negativity ranging from political mud slinging to children being kidnapped or bullied to animals being abused and beyond. I open up Twitter only to see more folks complaining about the woes of their life. Sometimes, my emotions take such a beating I have to take two and three day sabbaticals from all the media outlets and social networking sites.

Reality Check

When my husband was a management scientist in the College of Business at Auburn University one of the activities he often conducted when working with management teams in various companies around the state was called “Reality Check”. The theory is that how you use your resources--money and time--tells more about your priorities than what you say. At the end of the activity, folks compared how they spent their time and their money with their identified goals and values. The participants were often very surprised by the reality of their actions. 

When a person on Twitter this past week kept whining and complaining about a lack of volunteers to get a program together, I looked at how many tweets a day she put out and the time of day. The result was almost non-stop tweeting, proudly winning the top slot for the fastest fingers in the East. However, few of her tweets were about the program and those that were were disparaging. She also complained about how hard she worked, but she apparently saw no problem with tweeting during work.

As I was watching this saga unfold, I got to thinking--which can often be a dangerous activity for me. Am I doing the same thing? Maybe a little introspection into my goals and values just might be good for me as well. 

I came to this conclusion: The things I value most are my husband, my 87 year-old uncle, my pups, my home and my closest friends. If something does not fit within one of those, it is not my problem. As a couple we value our health and our life together, which by the way encompasses those other things I just mentioned. 

Since my husband was diagnosed as being celiac/gluten intolerant, I have devoted my life to protecting his diet and health. After that I focus on the other things I value most. Someone getting stressed out over an event she volunteered to do is senseless, wasting a lot of time and emotional energy. Focus on the positive and embrace the wonderful things life has in store for you; accept help when it is offered and don't allow pride to keep you from asking for help when needed. At some point in everyone's life, we all need a hand to pull us up. And, when help is offered, simply say "Thank you!"

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