What’s In Your Cup?
I heard this from so many people around me… and even more from self-proclaimed life coaches on Instagram and TikTok (I’ll deal with those guys in another article) that the ultimate goal in life is to be happy… in an “Eat, Pray, Love” kind of way!!! (Sorry Ms. Roberts).
Finding happiness is not a bad thing. Actually, it is a very good thing… but that reason — alone — is so friggin’ shallow that it helps me understand how these Social Media life-couches are making a living! (nope, wasn’t a typo!)
Let me tell you this from my own experience. God did not bring you to this life to be just happy. You are here to live life in all its aspects. You are here to experience heartbreak, pain, joy, pleasure, achievement, disappointment, pride… and every other emotion.
Why the heck would you limit yourself from all of the other experiences? Is it because you are afraid? You’re uncertain?!! It’s beyond your control?!!!
I’ve learned that the magnificence of life isn’t in pursuing happiness. It’s in pursuing experiences and it is in understanding that it is on so many different levels; it is NOT just one emotion.
The Bible says, “Bear all things with joy.”
What does that mean?
It means that anything that comes your way, bear it with joy. Be grateful with what you have and work hard to make it better. A dear friend of mine has a saying, “It could be worse.”
Every time we hit a crappy situation, or something goes south, I say “kheir” (in Arabic) and he says “it could be worse”; to translate, they kinda mean the same thing!
Nothing you create today is going to live forever; not money, businesses, things… you are here today, gone tomorrow, forgotten by the end of the next generation. BUT, you ARE here today, so make an impact and leave the world better than you found it.
And, for God’s sake, stop listening to people who don’t have the life you want and have never walked a mile in your shoes.
Let me leave you with this!
Imagine you’re walking down the corridor, holding a cup of coffee in your hand, someone bumps into you, and you spill coffee everywhere; why did you spill coffee? The obvious answer, and what everyone would say that the reason you spilled coffee is because someone bumped into you and threw you off your balance, right?
Wrong!
The reason you spilled coffee is because that’s what was in your cup. If you had tea in your cup, you would have spilled tea. Water, you’d spill water. Sounds like a “dad joke”, right?
Well, when life bumps into you and rattles you and shakes you and throws you off your balance… and it sure will… what’s going to spill out of you?
Will it be anger? Rage? Self-pity? Fear? Blame?
Or will it be composure? Love? Compassion? Understanding? Hope? Focus?
Whatever you fill yourself with is your choice to make.
So, what’s in your cup?
Well folks, with this Verbal Breakdown, till the next one, keep it safe, keep it real, and keep it simple.
Ralph
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not to the author’s employer, organization, committee, or other group or individual.
