Half Empty/Half Full

[cedar_grove]

Little May Rose,
turn around, turn around!
Little May Rose,
We watch you turn round!

Rose of the May,
come away, come away,
Rose of the May,
to the woods, come away.

How merry we are,
as the season closes,
how marry we go
from May to the roses.

--Alsacian folksong of spring

We can either mourn constantly for our losses, or praise the goddess for the brief beauties that flower in our lives.

Before I start - may I express my absolute annoyance at this whole "Star Wars Day" thing that everyone has going on today. I mean, I suppose I should be happy that something as Pop-culture in a sci-fi sort of way has caught on the way the whole May the fourth be with you thing has... but, p-lease... it was funny once upon a time... Not so funny now.

Then again... isn't this, in a bizzare sort of way exactly what today's meditation is about? The choice between mourning something (viewing something negatively) and celebrating the positive in it? Given the choice between two outlooks, is your cup half full, or half empty?

For the longest time.. far too long, I was looking at everything from the bottom of a half empty cup. It coloured everything I said and did, and I ended up dragging everything and everyone down into the depths with me. It was pointed out to me, none too gently, and yet with love, that this was what I was doing. I thought about it. I cried about it. and then I did something about it.

I try to be more positive now... and I recognise that I don't always manage that. Sometimes the stresses are very much and I succumb. But I have found, on the whole that keeping the cup half full works for me most of the time. It keeps the energy higher, the spirits up, and gives me a different perspective on many thing. It also makes me a kinder person... more compassionate, more patient...

Except, I have found an interesting thing, that is true in many other situations (like with ex-smokers), and that is that I find myself less tollerant with people who are 'negative' or 'moaning' or such. Sure I try to be supportive of their woes, but when they rejects my attempt at giving them an out - a positive spin - a way to see past what worries them etc, they reject the attempt and continue to batter all and sundry with their negativity - and it makes me ashamed that I also used to be that way.