The Glass is Half Full

I was feeling thirsty. Heading straight to the refrigerator, i picked a chilled water bottle and pour the water in a glass. After drinking half of it, I kept it on the table. “It’s half full”, I said. I started observing the glass more closely, constantly looking at the vapors flowing towards the sky. The air getting into a contact with a chilled substance helps form these vapors, I had studied when I was in the school. I observed it for the first time with such seriousness after about 23 years. The water was fast loosing its Chill. Lifting the glass of water, I moved towards the balcony. The breeze was cool enough to give me some comfort. The glass of water was loosing its chillness with every passing second. I was not realizing it. It was only a matter of a few minutes when I realized this loss of the chill but it really didn’t matter. The water in the glass was too chilled for my comfort. I took a couple of sips from the glass keeping it on the table and moved swiftly towards the exit. I was getting late for my office.

In a hurry, I forgot the glass of water on the table in the balcony. You know how it is in the office… You get busy with practically nothing. But yes, you do drink water at regular intervals. Even that did not remind me of the glass I had left on the table in the morning. It was inconsequential, anyway.

It’s all too similar in every office, I guess. There are people just waiting to give you gyan. My office is no different. Someone senior was not happy with my attitude and he just happen to mention the old saying of how we should be looking at the half filled glass of water and not the empty part. It may work, I thought.

I came back home and saw the half filled glass of water sitting on the table looking at me smiling. I smiled back immediately. It was warm contrary to what I had left in the morning. I said “So, are you half filled or half empty?”

“I am half empty”, he said.

“Hey! Come-on! You need to be optimistic in life”, I said.

“I was…”, he said. “but look at what I have gone through over the last 9 hours. You left me in the morning after taking me out of the refrigerator. I was quite chilled when you had the few sips. You, in a hurry left me in the ‘uncomfortable atmosphere’ and never looked back. It was quite hot out here. The Sun was at it’s hottest. It did whatever it could to make me uncomfortable. I fought hard but by noon, it got better of me. I started evaporating. I was drenched in my own sweat.”

“Oh! Water getting drenched in it’s own sweat”, I smiled.

“look at me again. I have evaporated most of what you had left. The glass is no longer half full; its half empty.”, the glass said.

That’s what life does to all of us. The experiences make us believe in negatives more than positives that the life holds for us.

Now lets look at the positive side of this negative thinking; When you look at the Half-filled Glass of Water and internalize it from the positive point of view, you are in a way blocking any scope of improvement. You need to realize the fact that the Glass is after all half empty and if you don’t act on it now, there is a great chance that you will keep looking at it till the rest of the water evaporates and you are left with none at all. It is important to realize all the deficiencies in the project you are working on or in the episode of life you live and immediately act on it.

And if you live for others, ensure you always look at the Glass of water half full in public. It will help you maintain a positive vibe around you. Have fun!