Who Fills Your Cup?

When you look at the glass of water to the right, would you say the glass is half empty or half full? When I took psychology in college (YEARS AGO!), I remember learning that the answer to that simple question gave evidence as to whether you are pessimistic (you anticipate undesirable outcomes) or optimistic (you anticipate positive outcomes). If you see the glass as half empty, you are pessimistic. If you see it as half full, you are optimistic. But have you considered seeing this glass as completely FULL?

A couple weeks ago during the Sunday sermon, our pastor asked “Who fills your cup?” Would you say your spouse, friends, family members, boss, colleagues, or children fill your cup? When you receive praise from your boss, a compliment from your spouse, good reports about your children, or a promise from a friend you might say these people are filling your cup. You feel great. You feel wonderful. You are on top of the world.

But if your friend betrays you, your spouse speaks unkindly to you, your children lie or speak disrespectfully to you, or your boss tells you are worthless, they are shooting holes right through your cup. And now your cup that was once full is completely empty and broken. You have nothing left to fill you. You feel lifeless, sad, hopeless, and empty.
When I reflected on the question “Who fills my cup?” I realized how much I am driven by positive affirmations from those around me. When I work very hard, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, only to receive a negative comment at the end of the journey just empties my cup in a millisecond! This can happen daily.

When I was faced with gestational diabetes for the second time with my 5th child, I tried so hard to look at the glass as half full instead of half empty. But my cup quickly emptied when my hopes were shot down by the doctors and nurses.