{"id":503,"date":"2007-07-11T14:41:21","date_gmt":"2007-07-11T18:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/example.org\/the-glass-is-ne"},"modified":"2007-07-11T14:41:21","modified_gmt":"2007-07-11T18:41:21","slug":"the-glass-is-ne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/?p=503","title":{"rendered":"The glass is neither half-empty nor half-full"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This first appeared two years ago. It is still applicable today.]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The obvious usefulness of the half-empty\/half-full metaphor obscures the deeper truth that lies behind it.<\/p>\n

We are able to judge someone’s ability to contribute to a project, a
\nbusiness, or our lives by simply observing whether they consider
\nsituations as declining or growing.<\/p>\n

"Half-empty’ people view the world around them with dismay and take
\nthe position that the best in life is over and all that remains are the
\ndregs. No matter what anyone does, their attention is firmly fixed on
\nthe past and its supposedly better days. As a result, their ability to
\nexert a positive influence on anything around them is negligible. <\/p>\n

We may consider such people as losers. The truth in their eyes is
\ninfinitely worse. they consider that they have already lost and they
\nare resignedly staving off their inevitable descent into oblivion.
\nThese people live with the specter of imminent failure every day. The
\nwonder is not that they are depressed, the wonder is that they are able
\nto continue living at all.<\/p>\n

The mere fact that they are able to continue working and living,
\nwhile whining and grumbling as they do, hints that under it all they
\nsecretly hope that there is some slight chance of rescue.<\/p>\n

And there is.<\/p>\n

Life sweeps onward through time and space, even for those who are
\nhiding under rocks like a hellgrammite. There is no inevitability that
\nthings will "improve" or "decline". There is only change and your own
\npotential to exert control over some part of that change.<\/p>\n

At at given moment, you can bring about a dramatic change in your
\nown future by deciding to confront what it is that you are doing and
\nhow it is related to your own chances of personal survival. It is this
\nincredibly powerful, yet subtle action of facing something and taking
\nresponsibility for some part of it that starts you an the road to
\ntaking control of your destiny.<\/p>\n

Without getting into the broader issues of looking out for oneself
\nversus looking out for self, others and for humanity, it is sufficient
\nto say that the road to personal and community survival starts with
\ntaking responsibility for your own condition in life and acting to
\nchange it for the better.<\/p>\n

This is true, even if you have struggled and lost every time you
\ntried to change things before. All that happened was that you didn’t
\nobserve what part you played in your demise. You could have been
\nlacking information, because all the will-power and determination in
\nthe world will not help you if you are being wrong-headed about who is
\nto blame for your present condition.<\/p>\n

I say this, not from some lofty height of divinely inspired
\nenlightenment, but from having been guided by others to improve my
\nability to confront my actions over time until I was able to see that I
\nexert control over life only to the extent that I can confront it. <\/p>\n

If you would like to see things get better instead or worse, I
\nsuggest that you might want to learn how to observe what is happening
\nand take responsibility for some small part of it. It could be
\nenlightening. Results may vary… <\/p>\n

The glass of life is continually being refilled. Make sure you are prepared to drink deeply of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This first appeared two years ago. It is still applicable today.] The obvious usefulness of the half-empty\/half-full metaphor obscures the deeper truth that lies behind it. We are able to judge someone’s ability to contribute to a project, a business, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1805],"tags":[1387,1385,1260,1386,654],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3R4iK-87","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}