I love this analogy about the choices we have for engaging with others on planet earth … Imagine you are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee?
“Because someone bumped into me!”
Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. Whatever is inside
the cup is what will spill out.
Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you, which will happen, whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled.
So, we have to ask ourselves … “what’s in my cup?”
When life gets tough, what spills over? Joy, gratitude, peace and humility?
Anger, bitterness, victim mentality, and quitting-tendencies? Life provides the cup, you choose how to fill it.
Let’s work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, resilience, positivity, kindness, gentleness and love for others.
My most treasured life tool is gratitude but it needs to be explored and used every day. Here are some ways to bring gratitude into our daily practice:
- Slow everything down by walking in gratitude; appreciate your surroundings.
- Soften towards your family, friends and colleagues.
- Thank others for the smallest kindness.
- Forgive yourself, be gentle on yourself.
- Give people the benefit of the doubt; don’t take things personally.
- Actively notice new things to feel grateful about.
- Show compassion to self and others.
Credit to: Austin Tang for the analogy