You don’t have to have lived as long as Ol’ Dutch to have heard the phrase “Is your cup half empty or half full?” It’s a storied line used by psycho-babble people of every persuasion including pastors, shrinks, doctors, motivational speakers, teachers, and marriage counselors. The use of this phrase, of course, is that these well-meaning “helpers of humanity” want to get a person to look at their life in a positive manner instead of a negative one.
Now, I do know that it’s way better for us to think about things in a positive manner and probably makes for a happier life but sometimes I wonder about such thinking. For instance, let’s say you are headed on a trip in your car, and you glance down at the gas gauge to make sure you have sufficient fuel for the journey.
In this case, at least, I believe it is better to see the tanks as half empty so that some kind of urgency is placed on finding fuel for the trip. There are people, however, who drive around on fumes as they seem to see that they have “some gas” remaining in the tank hence no rush to replenish the same. They are what we call “walkers” as they soon find themselves without and then cannot believe it happened to them, of course.
Another place where seeing the lack in your situation may be helpful is with a person’s bank account. It’s a sad fact of reality that having a half full account really doesn’t do much good when faced with a purchase. And yes, you can keep positive and say “well, at least I have some money” but that does not seem to help when you want to purchase anything of value. You are still half empty.
I have to say, Miss Trixie is a “half full" type of person and I do appreciate that as she always looks on the bright side of things which tends to pull Ol’ Dutch along and out of the “half empty” mentality that he has. It’s a good balance, I guess, for any relationship if one person can maintain positive vibes.
There is one area, though, that Ol’ Dutch wishes she would come around to my way of thinking. That is with cups of beverages she leaves on the counter. She is her mother’s daughter for sure as she is frugal to a fault but saving days old quarter cups of Chai Tea drives me toward insanity.
And yes, I know some of you say well why can’t I just dump them out and I do but mostly I hit them as they balance on the edge of the countertop and dump them on the floor. This elicits all kinds of loud exclamations and words not allowed in mixed company let alone here. And when Ol’ Dutch lets loose, this causes Miss Trixie to launch off the bed where she is reclined like Cleopatra of old and come running to see what I did now.
I have tried to reassure her that we can afford the cheap Chai tea she buys and to simply dump it out when she thinks she is done but to no avail. So, it appears that while Ol’ Dutch sees her cup as half empty, she will continue to see it as half full and keep it around until mold appears in the life-giving nectar of the elite.
And Ol’ Dutch will continue to dump it down the drain at every opportunity which causes words of non-appreciation to spew forth from Miss Trixie’s mouth. But Ol’ Dutch is pretty hard of hearing now so what used to go in one ear and out the other simply does not even make it in the one hearing appendage.
Is your glass half full? Well then dump it out and save your marriage while you can.
Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is Kevin@TroutRepublic.com. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com.
