I wrote a “Closing Thought” recently for my weekly blog email group on the subject of “Transitions” and I used the phrase “the glass half-full.” I awoke the next morning with this thought still burning in my mind. What a concept – viewing the glass half-full.
Some say, especially advertising and marketing gurus, “It’s all about perception.”
We used to ask this question during product development meetings. “What is the perceived value of this product?”
“I perceive you as ___”
“I perceive my life situation as ___”
“I perceive my job as ___.”
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author and noted medical professional, wrote a book a few years ago called Love, Medicine and Miracles. In it he tells the story of a man with an incurable illness. After a visit with his physician, the patient said, “Well, I guess that means I have about 5 or 10 thousand miles left in me.”
What a wonderful and fresh way to look at life.
"Five or ten thousand miles
left in me…"
What does that mean exactly? I don’t know, and neither did the patient; but you can be assured he was looking at a glass half-full.
Half-full means there is still stuff in the glass. I can sip it slowly and savor it, or I can chug it all at once; but the bottom line is I still have some left. And I’m gonna live it, drink it, savor it, and enjoy every drop.
Half-empty sometimes means “Oh, I better slow down; horde the stuff for another day. Sometimes, “another day” never comes.
I love the thought of a glass half-full. There’s still something more. I am alive. I still breathe. I still live and think and love, and my heart still beats.
Half-full. I love that!
Yep. Give me another swig of life.
Now, where are we gonna go next month and next year?
We used to ask this question during product development meetings. “What is the perceived value of this product?”
Perception.
“I perceive you as ___”
“I perceive my life situation as ___”
“I perceive my job as ___.”
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author and noted medical professional, wrote a book a few years ago called Love, Medicine and Miracles. In it he tells the story of a man with an incurable illness. After a visit with his physician, the patient said, “Well, I guess that means I have about 5 or 10 thousand miles left in me.”
What a wonderful and fresh way to look at life.
"Five or ten thousand miles
left in me…"
What does that mean exactly? I don’t know, and neither did the patient; but you can be assured he was looking at a glass half-full.
Half-full means there is still stuff in the glass. I can sip it slowly and savor it, or I can chug it all at once; but the bottom line is I still have some left. And I’m gonna live it, drink it, savor it, and enjoy every drop.
Half-empty sometimes means “Oh, I better slow down; horde the stuff for another day. Sometimes, “another day” never comes.
I love the thought of a glass half-full. There’s still something more. I am alive. I still breathe. I still live and think and love, and my heart still beats.
Half-full. I love that!
Yep. Give me another swig of life.
Now, where are we gonna go next month and next year?
Mike,
ReplyDeleteClearly, you have allowed God to teach you some truths many of us never learn. Your insights, shaped from your experiences, reflect the Gospel.
I have a challenge for you. Could you express each of your five greatest truth discoveries in a one sentence maxim? These would be what you have learned from your own journey, not borrowed from others.
It would require introspection and a digging for treasure, but I would enjoy reading them.