Who cares how much liquid is in the Glass?!
For the longest time, I never completely grasped the whole meaning behind that “is the glass half empty, or half full” saying. What do you mean is it half empty of half full? Does it matter? There is only half a cup of liquid in that glass. Who cares if it’s half empty or full…
But I’ve begun to realize the importance of that phrase. It’s all about perspective…it’s all about life outlook. Positive versus negative…pessimism versus optimism…being thankful versus being whiney and ungrateful.
My heart has been convicted about my outlook on life lately. Shell over at Things I Can’t Say wrote a post similar to this a few days ago (while I was in the note-taking and brainstorming process of my own post). There are so many times in my life when I find myself feeling beaten down, exhausted, and completely run over. I feel…tired. I feel worn out. And on those days, I get sick and tired of hearing my name called and being summoned by the two and half year old that dwells in our home (that would be our son…in case you missed that).
And for the past several days, I’ve been trying my hardest to change my perspective and view the glass that is my life a little differently…
– Rather than complaining that the laundry is overflowing for the 9,103,475,917 time this week…I choose to be grateful that I have a laundry room in our house here in Kodiak and that I have a washing machine AND dryer that works.
– Rather than complaining because my husband left his dirty socks on the living room floor the other day after he took them off (instead of taking them upstairs and throwing them in the hamper), I choose to be grateful that he worked so hard that day providing for our family that he couldn’t muster the energy to take them up the steps.
– Instead of gritting my teeth and considering pulling the hair from my head when my son asks me to come put his Thomas the Train set back together for him for the ten millionth time today, I choose to be thankful that he loves his track so much that he desperately needs me to keep it assembled at all times…because little boys get so excited when they play that the tracks tend to go flying across their bedrooms at unbelievable speeds.
– Instead of becoming frustrated with the fact that Little Man wants Spaghetti & Meatballs for lunch (which will indefinitely result in a orange, gooey mess all over his clothes, the table and in his hair), I choose to be thankful that he is healthy and can eat things like Chef-Boy-Ardee without the worry that he will have some crazy allergic reaction to it.
– Rather than cringing at the sight of more messy, nasty, rain and snow falling from the sky here in Alaska while my friends in the South are experiencing beautiful Spring temperatures and blooming flowers, I choose to revel in the knowledge that when they are battling 120 degree heat index’s and humidity out the wazoo, I’ll be basking in the sunlight and cooler temperatures of the Last Frontier.
– Rather than letting my exhaustion at the end of the day drive me toward frustration with my son at bedtime…those nights that he wants just one more kiss, or wants to read a story just one more time…or needs just one more sip of juice…I’ll smile, oblige and choose to realize that he isn’t going to be little forever. One day, sooner rather than later, he’s going to grow up and I’ll be longing for the days when he needed and depended on me this way.
– When my son decides that he needs to poop for the hundredth time in the last 24 hours, instead of cringing and pretending I don’t smell it so the husband will take care of the clean up duties, I’ll choose….oh who am I kidding. There is NO upside to poop.
I’m making strides to take the negative outlooks and the frustrations with things that don’t matter out of my life. I am so much happier when I choose to intentionally overlook things that can become an annoyance. When I choose to purposefully love my husband and my son, in spite of all the things that they do to drive me crazy, I find myself realizing that my glass isn’t half empty…nor is it half full. You see my cup? “It runneth over…” [Adapted from Psalm 23]
What about you? What circumstances in life could you stand to alter your perspective on? [And don’t say there aren’t any….because I know my husband isn’t the only one who leaves dirty clothes on the floor. And I am certain that my child isn’t the only one who makes messes that we mom’s have to clean up…]
