Half Empty or Half Full?

Today is Saturdray, November 23, 2013.

It doesn't matter if the glass is half empty or half full... Bee grateful that you have a glass, and there is something in it.

I've always heard that, when presented with the classic question of whether a glass is half-empty or half-full, a pessimist will declare that it is half-empty, whereas an optimist will say that it is half-full.  The idea of being grateful for the glass has never entered into a lot of people's heads, including mine, on occasion. 

While it is true that our attitude about life determines what we decide to make of our circumstances, it's also true that sometimes we simply have to accept life as it is, without having an opinion about it.  It's just experience, after all, and no matter what we decide to do, or indeed whether we make a decision or not, life is what it is, and something will happen. We will be given an opportunity to learn something from it, if we choose to do so, and at the end, we will be given a chance to make some sense of it all.

Some of our greatest realizations and achievements come at times in our lives when we might consider the glass to be half-empty, when we are struggling, when our problems are threatening to overwhelm us.  It's when we are feeling content that our impetus for growth is stunted.

The other day, a dear friend of mine asked her Facebook friends if they would share some turning points in their lives and how their choices brought them to where they are today.  I was amazed at all the experiences that were shared.  The turning points that people shared were all experiences that the vast majority of us might label as "negative," and we would most certainly describe them as "uncomfortable."  I have no doubt that, at the time, the people thought their glass was half-empty.  In fact, I think some of them thought their glass was completely empty!  

In story after story, these people described a situation in which they were required to confront fears, call on inner strength, accept responsibility for their actions, and transcend real and perceived boundaries in order to solve a problem or get out of a negative situation.  All are filled with gratitude for the experiences of their lives that have brought them to the place where they find themselves today.  :-)