Make Sure The Glass IS “Half Full”
We’re all accused of it at one time or another and that’s being a ‘half glass empty’ person. I’ve been thinking about this saying / accusation for a couple of weeks now and wanted to share my insight and thoughts.
Are you a glass half full or glass half empty person is a question that often comes up during the course of conversation and most often when we’re passing judgment on a particular situation, circumstance, or condition. I’m not trying to justify one or the other, just perhaps rationalize the viewpoint of the individual being so accused.
Here’s my newfound perspective: In math, and calculus in particular, there’s a concept called the derivative of a function. The derivative is the rate of change of the equation/function at a given point and we most often know it as the ‘slope of the line’. In terms of travel and distance, the derivative of distance is velocity – it’s the time rate of change of distance traveled. It’s a rate of change of one thing or another.
So, you’re probably wondering how this applies to the glass half accusation. Well, what I’ve learned it’s not whether the glass is half full or not, it’s whether the glass is being emptied or filled that’s really the question and provides the necessary insight to the answer. So, in the case where the volume of fluid in the glass is going down, I could be accurately accused of being a glass half empty person as that’s the ‘direction’ of the liquid in the glass. On the other hand, if the glass were being filled, then I’d be a glass half full person since that’s the ‘direction’ of the liquid in the glass.
From my perspective, now, the right question is not whether I’m a half full or half empty person; the right question is am I doing all I can to make sure that the derivative of the glass has a positive slope. In other words, I’m helping fill the glass. And if I’m doing my part to insure that something is being added to that glass, then it will always be half full. So, as you go through life and the glass half (empty/full) conversation comes up, just make sure that you’re positively adding to the glass rather than taking from it. – that makes it pretty easy to say that “I’m a glass half full” person.
Here’s my throw down: Add to the glass of life, you’ll always be a glass half full person; and, keep adding to the glass until it runneth over!
God bless & have a great week.