half-full

I recently came across this Albert Einstein quote in a blog I follow, that made me think about how we approach our everyday life.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

It got me thinking. How do you look at life? Earlier in the week I wrote about whether we approach life with half-full or half-empty thinking. In many ways Einstein’s quote and half-full/half-empty thinking are one and the same. Looking at life as though everything is a miracle = half-full thinking, nothing is a miracle = half-empty thinking.

Miracles are an interesting thing. People look at them differently. Some think that everything that happens is a miracle. While that might be a bit of a stretch, why not think of everything in the lens of goodness? Wikipedia says:

“A miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (God or gods), a miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader.”

Regardless of the true definition, if I had to look at my life and future thinking that nothing is a miracle, it would be like believing that no good is possible, no one can change, nothing can get better. Call me a glass half-fuller, rose-colored glasses wearer, or whatever you like. I am fine with the view seen from my eyes.

Are you a half-full or half-empty kind of person? I like to think of myself as half-full. Optimistic. Ready to jump into anything. Ready. Set. Go. However, there are days when life sucks, everything in your day feels like you have been handed a sour lemon. You begin to approach that day as half-empty. Everyone is out to get you, nothing is going right. You were not given what you should have been given. You can turn it around though. It is all about you.

Which is why I love this quote from a recent Daily Om titled: “Starting from Empty.” Specifically this part:

“When we look at our lives we see all the elements that are in place and all the things we do have. This doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t seek more, but we seek from a place of fullness instead of from a place of lack. This fullness draws positive energy into our lives and often attracts more abundance.”

Regardless what rocks get thrown back at us, how nasty someone was to us, or how rotten that project has turned, we always have a choice. We get to decide how to react or how to handle it. We get to decide whether we are going to let it go and move on, or if we are going to stop, take a stand, and speak up. Now, that does not mean that just because we speak up the other side will listen. It does not mean that the result is one of principle, rightness, or integrity. Sometimes though by being able to voice our thoughts and experience from a half-full mentality, we honor ourselves. We force the other side to see that we stand for integrity and honesty, whether they care or not. We did the right thing.

Forget about what another has done to you (besides, karma is a bitch, right)? You only have to live from your own half-full fullness. It is attractive, it breeds abundance, and energy that is full on life.