Are you a ‘my glass is half empty, or my glass is half full’ kind of person?

 

In other words…how do you look at situations, optimistically or pessimistically – negatively or positively? We all have a choice to make on how we view situations. Did you know that an attitude is ‘neutral’ until we decide to make it positive or negative?

There’s an old saying that often comes to my mind by Charles R. Swindoll ‘Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it’. In most all cases we can’t do anything, even despite our best efforts sometimes, to change a situation. We don’t have the power to make that glass completely full no matter how hard we try. It’s either half empty, or half full. Our reaction, our attitude, is what makes the difference.

A few years ago I was driving down the lane in a parking lot of my local craft store – imagine that, me at a craft store : ) Anyway, I suddenly felt the impact… and heard the crash! I’d been hit. I stopped instantly and quickly looked in my rear view mirror and saw this little teal pick up truck’s rear bumper ‘kissing’ the rear quarter panel of my big SUV.

I circled around to the next aisle, found a spot to park and got out to assess the damage. The older women who hit me also got out of her truck and we began talking. The usual – she apologized, we exchanged information etc., etc. As I was about to get back into my car she thanked me for being so nice to her. She said, “why are you being so nice to me, I just hit your car and yet you are so nice? I would have expected you to be angry and yell or something”. I replied, ” ma’am, getting upset with you isn’t going to change the fact that you hit my car. There’s no need for me to get angry, it wouldn’t help or change anything.” She looked shocked at my response, and by the looks of the ‘dings’ on her truck, this wasn’t her first bang up encounter which led me to believe why she’d been expecting me to ‘let loose’ on her.

What I didn’t mention earlier is, not only did she hit my car, she also didn’t have any insurance (which is illegal in the state I live in). I knew I’d either have to get her to pay for my deductible for the repairs, or be out that money myself. I made an attempt to contact her with the repair details etc. but she had somehow in the stress of the situation transposed her phone number. So, my hubby and I ended having to pay a visit to her home. She did give us a small portion toward the deductible and planned to make monthly payments to us. We drove away feeling terrible for taking the money and agreed to not pursue it further. The small amount of money we received that evening was the only amount she paid. She needed the money more desperately by the looks of her living arrangements. I’ve often thought about that woman. I know I blessed her that day by showing her some grace. I know she saw Jesus in me, and that to me means more than the inconvenience of having my car in the body shop for a week and being out the money for my deductible.

I shared this story with you because it’s a great example of how our attitudes can make a situation different, the outcome different. Now this was a rather ‘easy’ situation to be positive about. No one was injured, it wasn’t a tragedy by any means. A little inconvenience, sure – cost me some money, sure; but still rather easy in the big scope of things. So you might be thinking and wondering how we can possibly see our glass as ‘half full’ or be ‘positive’ with the big things? The shootings and bombings, terrorism, life threatening diseases, sudden deaths – all the big things that leave us feeling such deep pain or leave us with unanswered questions. My answer in one word – faith. Faith in our Heavenly Father that knowing even though we can’t see the big picture, we trust Him because He knows the big picture! God doesn’t expect us to have it all figured out, He just wants us to trust Him. He cares about what’s in our heart, our attitude. It’s through our faith and trust in Him that we find hope and we see the blessings pour out.

Now don’t misunderstand, having a positive attitude won’t instantly take away the hurt and pain, or make that situation go away. My heart still continues to ache an unspeakable pain, and I cry out with every ounce of my being for God to put His healing hands on my baby girl. But, it’s through choosing to have a ‘positive’ attitude that I’m also choosing to have faith. By choosing to have faith ‘my half full glass’ becomes full because He is the One who can fill my glass! Amen! There’s such peace in that! There’s such hope in that!

So, are you with me? Will you be a ‘my glass is half full’ kind of person?

Psalm 31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

Blessings!

I’d love to hear your comments or have you share your story with me ♥