A Full Cup

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We have become a country of whiners and finger-pointers. I am tired of complainers and crabby people. I am sick of negativity, naysayers, and people who blame their problems on others. I am frustrated with people who constantly make poor choices and continue to repeat their mistakes. I am angry with those who fail to take responsibility for their actions and those who are doing well, but feel no need to extend a helping hand to others. As my husband so often states, everyone sees himself as a victim.

I am surrounded by people who see their cup as half empty instead of half full, who focus on the negative instead of the positive, and who only see problems instead of opportunities and solutions. Their failure to see what they have and their need to focus on what they don’t have is a dark cloud that they carry with them. They suck the happiness out of life and infect others with their inner darkness. Other people can’t make you happy, but they can make you unhappy.

Many years ago a TV commercial featured an elderly woman getting out of bed. I don't remember the product she was trying to sell, but I remember what she said: “When I get up in the morning I can choose to be happy or I can choose to be sad. I choose to be happy.” This philosophy may seem simplistic or unrealistic, but the fact is our feelings and expectations affect our lives. We can’t move forward or resolve our problems if we believe the obstacles are too great to overcome or that we have been dealt a bad hand in the game of life. Some people are born lucky while others make their own luck. We are self fulfilling prophecies.

If you have a home, your health and people who love you, you have more than most people in the world. For some people, whatever they have is never enough. The grass always seems to be greener elsewhere. Everyone has problems, some more than others. It seems that the people who have been faced with the worst situations, who have been blindsided by tragedies that should have crushed them, are the ones who have the best outlook on life. Their losses do not overwhelm or define them. They are the ones who are generous with their time and money, who appreciate the simple things in life, and who have found a purpose that is not self serving. They have discovered what it means to have "enough".

"Make a note to yourself to start thinking more about what you have than what you want. For perhaps the first time in your life you’ll know what it means to be satisfied." ~Richard Carson
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