Do you See Inside the Glass that is Half-Empty or Half-Full?

Do you often just see just the glass? I know I do. There is no discussion as to whether it is half empty or half full, because often I have not even noticed what was inside. I just saw the “glass”.
Are you judging based on outward appearances?

Sometimes it would happen because I developed a stereotype about what I saw. I saw a bedraggled man, looking more than twice his age on a street corner with a sign. I didn’t see an individual who lost his home and family when he lost his job because I didn’t see the inside. I didn’t know the story.

I saw a multi tattooed teenager with headphones on his ears and ragged jeans, but I never saw the youth who volunteered at a local shelter and played the drums in his church’s music ministry.

I saw a hardened street walker with too much make up and too little clothing for someone who might still be a child herself, but I didn’t see the girl inside, who left a home where drugs, alcohol and abuse were all she has ever known.
Do you look past the stereotypes?

No, I have often only seen the glass. And I have even gotten to know the people who pointed that out to me. Do you do the same?

* Do you hold your purse closer because who you see on the train or bus “looks” hungry for whatever you might have?

* Have you walked on the opposite side of the street from a group of people who did not look like individuals you wanted in your space?

* Have you looked at someone and determined you might never have anything remotely in common with them?

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

While we need to be vigilant and careful about who we trust, it’s important to remember everyone has a story and sometimes without knowing the story, you can never determine half full or half empty.

What you see may be far different than what is really there. If you strip away a good circumstance or fortunate experience from your background or eliminate a loving person or two who believed in you, it might be easier to imagine. Yes, there but for the grace of God might go I.

Sometimes what I see was deliberately a result of poor choices and selfish mistakes but sometimes it is the result of circumstances beyond someone’s control and I have no way of knowing that until I see what’s in the glass; until I hear the story.
Look inside the glass that is half-empty or half-full

I never want anyone to look at me and just “see the glass.” Do you?

Play the game fair. Treat others the same. Look inside before you judge the contents. Sometimes the glass is not half full, or half empty. Sometimes it is completely full or totally empty, but it is never just a glass. There is always more to it, just like there is always more to the story than what our eyes see.

Remember to peer inside next time you are tempted to just see the “glass.” You may be more surprised than you ever imagined!
This is an inspirational guest post by Kathy Brunner.