Is your glass half empty or half full? Your answer dictates your behavior!
Posted by: Michael Ellison on: June 1, 2012
We just spent our special time at the ranch with our grandkids. Susan and I look forward to this time in Colorado each year, as we attempt to do only what the kids desire to do. For me, it probably is a time to relive my youth, thinking of all the things I would have loved to do at a ranch like fishing in the creek, riding quads, shooting guns, bottle feeding a calf, looking for arrowheads, etc. But one cute little incident got me to thinking about why so many people struggle in life; it is because they never give up their childhood perspective.
I was pouring lemonade for each of the grandkids and after serving the 7-year-old, sweet, pretty, smart, personality plus Miss Emmaline (Grandpa talk), she looked at me with a little pouty look and said, “Grandpa, you didn’t fill my glass as full as theirs!!!” “Well sweetie, you drink that and you can have as much as you want as there is plenty more in the refrigerator.” Just that simple statement turned her concern to total enjoyment of a glass just half full. She had made the comment seeing the last drop from the pitcher and not a full glass.
We have all heard this phrase: Is your glass half full or half empty? While it is such a familiar cliché we don’t even give it a thought, but it does reveal an emotional state that not only drives individuals but world economies as well. I watched a special on CNBC about the 2012 apocalypse-based fear that is spreading around the world. People truly believe the world is going to dramatically change or end in 2012. The behavior of many people is changing in response to their fear: they are buying dried food, extended life batteries, and building bunkers to survive this event. In fact, you can get a 13-floor cylinder bunker built for only a cool million dollars!
The news is reporting that the world economy is shrinking right now, and it seems like fear of the unknown is gripping people everywhere. As the media reports it, the markets are reeling from the fear of the unknown and from being unable to project normal growth – and from having to project contraction in many parts of the world.
Some of you may be thinking, Ok, Ellison, get to the point. Here is my point: The dominant emotion in your life will dictate your behavior!! If the glass is half empty, does it lead you to believe in lack and scarcity? If the glass is half full, does it allow you to enjoy each sip or gulp, filled with the gratitude and knowledge that there is more lemonade in the refrigerator?
When we interact with people, it is impossible to hide our inner feelings and emotions. A life lived with gratitude for what you have and with gratitude for the opportunity to have more, allows you to freely share the opportunities that are important in your life. Those you engage with will trust and feel your calming and reassuring demeanor.
Today our world is being rocked as many leaders and masses of people are viewing their glasses as half empty. Class warfare will never bring out the best in each of us. Comparing our glass to the glass of another may be the way each of us would react at the age of 7 seeing the pitcher empty, but when we know the refrigerator is full, it allows the joy of living with well-being.
As TriVita Members and Affiliates, may I encourage each of you with the fact that we do not have a lack of resources in our world but only a lack of belief and imagination about how to best bring them to fruition. The way to prosperity and success in life – whether as individuals or as a nation – is to become one of those who believe that the glass is half full but that there is more.
Again, my point is that your beliefs and dominant emotions do affect the way you live and the way you are perceived by others.
Michael
Michael Ellison CEO and Founder of TriVita
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