Gentle Reflections - What’s in your Glass?

There’s a funny comedian who asked this of the audience “who here is a glass half empty person?” Half the audience raises their hands.  “Show of hands for the half full?” The rest go up. Now that everyone had defined and labeled themselves, he delivers the punchline.

“Has anyone ever asked what’s in the glass?” The room erupts in laughter.

Because if it’s filled with sh**, you bet I’m a glass half empty guy!” To prove that all things are not black and white, he asks in a mock inquisitive tone “what if the glass is twice as big as it should be?”

Hilarious, but also incredibly insightful. Most great comedy hits a nerve, in a deeper truth, one that we all connect to, like an honesty funny bone. We can’t help but laugh…

I remember this years later as it was a moment that taught me that there’s always a new way of looking at things.

This brings me to the question that has been circling me lately… What is the difference between being filled, being fulfilled and being whole? They are all branches on the same tree, but totally different feelings when we experience them.

Being filled, as though we are the glass of water, is energetic. Sometimes we have the energy, sometimes we just don’t. But the idea of trying to fill something suggests that “something is missing”. A gap, a void, an absence… so we tend to fill this with distractions, soothing quick fixes in order to get that sense of fulfillment, but never truly does the trick.

Honoring those times we just can’t put our finger on the void, with presence instead of panic, allows us to determine what is actually needed. Sometimes, it’s nap in the middle of the day to recharge the body, a walk to invigorate the senses again or just sitting in silence to relive the mind of overthinking… Whatever it is in that moment, just a pause in the day can make all the difference.

Being fulfilled is more of a sense of satisfaction, meaning or completion. When you look around and say “wow! I did that”.  While it feels whole in the moment, it is still impermanent and can change when the next task arrives. It has a beginning, middle and an end.

Being whole on the other hand, is something entirely different. It can’t be taken away, it doesn’t shift with the winds of circumstance, it just waits silently to be acknowledged. It’s not something we gain by doing, we are born with it. We are all whole. We forget that everything we need is within us. Gratitude for the things we do have, the beings that we are and the miracle that we are here and remembering this wholeness, that nothing can fill us, that we are safe and complete is the work.

The takeaway and lesson I learned from this comedian is this:

We are the glass.

We are already whole.

What we choose to fill it with from moment to moment, doesn’t define who we are.

Knowing this makes it easier to pour out what doesn’t deserve space in order to make room for what does.

And while you’re at it, make sure its a really nice glass!

On that note, as I sit here and write this, my half-full cup of coffee has gone cold. 😉