32 What if, today, I see my glass as always overflowing?
#32 of 101 invitations to grow, change, and make room for more goodness in your life, starting this very day
People often ask, “Do you see a glass as half full or half empty?” when they want to quickly assess our basic outlook on life.
However, this question holds a dangerously subtle and self-limiting trap. It forces us to consider life as an either/or proposition, with a 50–50 ratio of bad to good and no options in between. We presume we have no choice but to answer that our life’s glass is either “half full” or “half empty.”
Another, far more empowering way to respond is to discard the question’s demand for either/or thinking and answer, “My glass is always overflowing.”
An overflowing glass embodies true abundance. It encourages us to accept that both goodness and hardship are continuously moving into, through, and out of our lives every day.
As we learn to accept this perpetual flow, we can expand our perception of how much good is truly available all the time. We can learn to gently release our need to regulate its supply and can acknowledge and thank it more often. We can begin directing this flow of goodness in ways that serve ourselves and our world best.
What if, today, you see your glass as always overflowing?
What do you see coming into and out of it all the time? Could you accept all of life’s possibilities impartially, letting the “bad” flow into and out of your life, as well as the “good”? How might you direct the good in new ways?
Tips for engaging with the power of this question
If this “What if, today, I…?” question intrigues you, irritates you, gives you butterflies, or shivers your skin, then pay attention: it holds an answer that points your way through a problem.
There is no right or wrong way to engage with this gift, but four simple steps can help:
1. Jot down a situation you’d like to apply this question to. Optional: Also rate your current feelings about the situation — sadness, anger, fear, and/or happiness — on a scale of 1 to 10 for each emotion.
2. Take time to view the situation in light of the question. For example:
- Meditate on the question in quiet.
- Follow it as if it is guidance from a good friend.
- Post it on your bathroom mirror and think about it every morning for a week.
- Include it as a leading question in a visualization practice, to reveal and understand your next step.
- Share and discuss it with others in a weekly “What if, today, I…?” club.
- Explore your options around the question with a trusted colleague or family member.
- Apply it as the day’s mantra.
- Ask it of a younger person and pay attention to the answer.
- Use it as a prayer in seeking a decision that serves you best.
- Ask it of your dreams before you sleep and write down any answers as soon as you wake up.
3. After sitting with this question for a while, record any new perspective, insights, or emotional shifts you’ve gained from your exploration. Optional: Once again rate your current level of sadness, anger, fear, and/or happiness about the situation on a scale of 1 to 10, noting any differences from when you started.
4. As needed, repeat the process over time until you reach a greater sense of clarity and emotional equilibrium around the situation. If this “What if, today, I…?” question really hits home, stay with it for several days, a month, or for as long as it has meaning and freshness.
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