Half Empty or Half Full?
One way to divide the whole human family into two groups is the notion that some people see the glass as half empty and others see it as half full. That observation assumes that those who see the glass as half empty are pessimists, and those who see the glass as half full are optimists. As a litmus test, it demonstrates that the same situation can be seen in different ways.
Are there only two possibilities? It seems to me that there is a third option. Instead of focusing on half the glass, look at the whole glass. In other words, instead of saying the glass is half-empty or half-full, say the glass is both half empty and half-full. Instead of being a pessimist or an optimist, why not be both? Why not be a realist, seeing both challenges and opportunities?
Or maybe we should take another look at the glass. Perhaps the glass should remind us to be thankful we have a glass and be grateful there’s something in it. We should be thankful we have eyes to see it and be grateful that we have a brain that can evaluate the situation. One of the greatest indictments the apostle Paul had against the population of the planet was “nor were (they) thankful” (Rom. 1:21). To believers, Paul says “be thankful” (Col. 3:15).
Let’s put our situation in perspective. If the 7 billon people in the world were shrunk to a village of 100 people, with the existing ratios remaining the same, it would look like this: 60 people would be Asian, 11 Europeans, 14 would be from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south (only 5 would be from the USA and Canada), and 15 would be Africans. In our village of 100, 50 would be female and 50 would be male, 67 would be non-Christians, including 22 Muslim, and 33 would be Christians, including
Catholics, Protestant, Orthodox, and others.
80 of the 100 village residents would live in substandard housing, 48 would live on less than $2 per day, and 50 would be malnourished. If you have food in the refrigerator, your clothes in a closet, a bed to sleep in, and a roof over your head, you are richer than 75% of the people in the world. Admittedly, these figures might not be meticulously accurate, but they sure do put things in perspective.
Someone has put it like this: “If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all” (source unknown).
Wow! We are blessed, are we not? Maybe we should take another look at our glass and see ourselves, not just the glass.
© 2013 G. Michael Cocoris April 24, 2013
Are there only two possibilities? It seems to me that there is a third option. Instead of focusing on half the glass, look at the whole glass. In other words, instead of saying the glass is half-empty or half-full, say the glass is both half empty and half-full. Instead of being a pessimist or an optimist, why not be both? Why not be a realist, seeing both challenges and opportunities?
Or maybe we should take another look at the glass. Perhaps the glass should remind us to be thankful we have a glass and be grateful there’s something in it. We should be thankful we have eyes to see it and be grateful that we have a brain that can evaluate the situation. One of the greatest indictments the apostle Paul had against the population of the planet was “nor were (they) thankful” (Rom. 1:21). To believers, Paul says “be thankful” (Col. 3:15).
Let’s put our situation in perspective. If the 7 billon people in the world were shrunk to a village of 100 people, with the existing ratios remaining the same, it would look like this: 60 people would be Asian, 11 Europeans, 14 would be from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south (only 5 would be from the USA and Canada), and 15 would be Africans. In our village of 100, 50 would be female and 50 would be male, 67 would be non-Christians, including 22 Muslim, and 33 would be Christians, including
Catholics, Protestant, Orthodox, and others.
80 of the 100 village residents would live in substandard housing, 48 would live on less than $2 per day, and 50 would be malnourished. If you have food in the refrigerator, your clothes in a closet, a bed to sleep in, and a roof over your head, you are richer than 75% of the people in the world. Admittedly, these figures might not be meticulously accurate, but they sure do put things in perspective.
Someone has put it like this: “If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all” (source unknown).
Wow! We are blessed, are we not? Maybe we should take another look at our glass and see ourselves, not just the glass.
© 2013 G. Michael Cocoris April 24, 2013