Is the glass half full or half empty?

I truly believe that how we view ourselves influences how we "see" the world around us.  If I tend to generally like myself, and assuming I am having a decent day, I would most likely view things around me, and other people, in a favorable light.  Think about a time when you were the most irritated or angry at others, for no apparent reason; what was going on inside of yourself at the time?

Perspective, or how we view the world around us, is a topic about which I have blogged many times (click here for a list) since how we view our world and events tends to influence how we feel and react.  Changing our perspective on life has always been a challenge for me, and as such, I challenge all of you to view the world from a different, sometimes unique viewpoint.

A few days ago a friend of mine posted a picture on her Facebook page, and I was moved by the simplicity of its wisdom.  The saying on the picture read: "Failure is success if we learn from it" (Credit: sevenly.org)  This short quote very succinctly challenges all of us to view life from a different perspective.  It challenges us not to view what we define as failure in a negative way; rather, to change our perspective and view the failure as a success if we are able to learn from the event.  Learning implies growth, change, becoming different.  Therefore, in learning from our failures we gain the ability to grow.  In supposed failure we have an opportunity to become better, stronger, wiser; if only we view the event from a different perspective.

This saying reminds me of a quote I use in the college class I teach, although I do not know whom to credit: "If I try to fail, and succeed, which have I done?"  ... give it a moment to sink in ...  How I view the world and it's events directly impacts my reactions.  Do I shrink away from my life's events, or do I have a perspective of looking for life lessons in all my interactions along the journey?

I challenge all of us, myself included, to view your world and it's events from a different angle.  Don't look at the glass as either half full or half empty, view the glass as always full - no matter the level of the liquid in the glass, the rest of the glass has air, a gas, therefore the glass is always full if we see it from that perspective.

... continue the conversation ... 

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