I tend to be in the former category but I want to be in the latter. I think I'd be happier. And, based on the chapter on luck in the book I'm reading right now (The Survivor's Club by Ben Sherwood), I'd be more likely to survive in a rough situation. Perhaps it is because I just read that chapter last night that I chose to see the good in an incident this morning.
There was a small amount of rice left in the rice cooker after my sweetie had breakfast and packed his lunch. I scraped it out, planning to eat it with some cabbage kimchi I made last week. First, though, I made a couple of loaves of quick bread, so by the time I was ready to eat breakfast, the rice was cold. I popped my bowl into the microwave for a minute to warm it up.
When it was hot, I removed the bowl and was standing by the counter holding it. All of the sudden, half the bowl broke off and fell on the floor spilling rice on the counter and floor. My first reaction was shock, of course, and wondering what I'd have for breakfast now. Immediately, though, I realized how lucky I was. Why?
1. I was not hurt.
2. Angel was not hurt. (It dropped right next to her food and water bowl.)
3. Plain rice with no sauce on it was easy to clean up.
4. My sweetie made basmati rice rather than Jasmine rice. Basmati is nice and dry whereas the Jasmine would have been a sticky mess.
5. I had just cleaned the floor the day before so clean-up was simple.
6. One less heavy bowl to move!
7. When scrounging for something else for breakfast, I found some chard sauce in the refrigerator I'd forgotten about. It's part of tonight's dinner plan now.
Is your bowl half empty or half full? Remember that you can cultivate a resilient nature, be open to opportunities, and look for the silver lining (while still being realistic) to enhance your ability to survive, and thrive, when disaster strikes or times are tough.
15 comments:
I'm definetly a half empty type of person. Husband is the opposite so he doesn't bring me to my senses as often as he can which isn't always easy. I'm always moaning and groaning about all sorts of idiotic (and sometimes not so idiotic) things.
I do make a concentrated effort to be more positive though...I know I've improved in the last 5 years or so
I used to be a half empty kind of girl, but in the last couple years due to reading and meditation, I'm slowly becoming a half-full girl. It's amazing how much more wonderful life is this way, though I still have plenty of work to do...
I'm a half full person. Unless it's half of a dessert, then I'm half empty, haha!
A few days ago the economy was really getting me down, but I've been looking at how fortunate we are and I think I'm over the depression and looking on the bright side again.
I'm trying to be more of an "it is what it is" kind of person, which I suppose would be moving towards the 'half full' side of things for me.
I am getting a bit better at just seeing things for what they are, and not getting all bent out of shape if things don't go the way I want them to, or the way I think they should. Reading and meditating is helping me with this, like Heather mentioned.
I really like this post Chile - it's a nice example of how day to day events have so much to teach us, if we let them.
I'm not sure. Right now, I'm kind of half empty. But, I'm fuller than my husband who is worrying about jobs. I'm pretty relaxed about it. Maybe I'm more half full right now? I switch back and forth (rather like I ramble).
I'm glad you weren't hurt! I bet Angel loved helping you clean the floor, too. Mine always do.
It's hard work to change a lifelong way of viewing things, isn't it?!
Angel didn't help with the clean-up. First of all, that would be entirely too much work for her. She was napping and rice isn't good enough to wake up for. Liver? Yes, but she, sadly, has veg. parents who don't buy raw liver.
Second, I would have shooed her away since there was broken crockery and shards on the floor. Also needed to wash out her bowls.
I think I've always been a half-empty girl, even when I was a teenager. That might sound sad except that the good news is that my glass is still half full when so many I know have less than that!
A quirky way of looking at it perhaps ....
Glad you and Angel weren't hurt or anything by the broken bowl,
cheers,
Shamba
I'm certainly a half-full kind of person. I try to see the best in any situation. I think I would be very depressed if I saw everything in a negative light. When it's hard to find positive in something, I just remember that in the bigger scheme of things, this might be exactly what I needed. What seems bad today, might look like a blessing tomorrow. So, why fret today? :)
Generally I am a half full person with oversight into who moved my damn cheese. But I realise I am powerless over certain situations so realeasing that worry is great. Makes Rob a calmer person. And more humanly.
I am a half full, married to a half empty. I guess we balance each other out.
Definitely half full and it's something yummy in the glass. I tend to always see the bright side of even the worst things. I do have a melt down every once in a while but it's usually short lived and then I'm back to my sunny self.
Not an easy question.
If I assume that things may get worse in the future and I make plans to stock up on essentials, that would make me a 1/2 empty type of person - planning for the worst. But, if I realize how fortunate I am to be able to stock up, that makes my type half-full.
I think that I (like perhaps most people) deal with each situation differently. I believe that when interacting with people I am mostly half-full, but trust me, I have my days...
Nice post.
I don't think I fit either. It just is really. On the other hand comiserations on the bowl - I just lost a large jar of peaches and that really hurt.
Glass and peach all over the place.
viv in nz
ps I put some pics up of our city from today.
Great thoughts! I have been working to try to appreciate what I have more and more and really *feel* the goodness -- the recession is good for that, I think. (When I don't want to work, thinking "thank goodness I have work" is a no brainer.)
Boy, Chile, you really made me think on this one. I think I'm definitely 1/2 full, at least that's what people tell me. I really reflected about this and posted about it at: http://everydaywomanusa.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/12-empty-or-12-full/ because I had two stories (and way too much) to post here.
Thanks for causing us all to reflect!
Post a Comment