In the Flow with Healing Waters

There are times as I scroll through social media I come across something I find meaningful and worth sharing. Perhaps you have seen this before.

Author Unknown:

You’re holding a cup of coffee and someone accidentally bumps into you, causing it to spill everywhere.

Why did the coffee spill?

“Because someone bumped into me”

Wrong Answer

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in the cup. If there had been tea in the cup you would have spilled tea. 

Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out. 

So when life shakes you up, whatever is inside you will come out.

It is easy to pretend everything is fine until you are shaken.

So we have to ask ourselves “What’s in our cup?

When life gets tough what spills over? Joy? Gratitude? Peace? Humility? Bitterness? A Victim Mentality? A Tendency to Quit?

Remember life gives you the cup; You choose what to fill it with.

End of Quote.

So there you have it. Plain and simple we get to choose. To the cup, we could also add Anger, Resentment, Shame, Frustration, Fear, Worry, Blame, Judgement, Guilt, Hatred, Jealousy, Unforgiveness, Sadness, Grief, Arrogance, Love, Acceptance, Understanding, and so on. 

At Healing Waters we talk a lot about emotions, and “how we are”. Good, bad or indifferent we all have them. Some serve us well and many do not. Occasionally, taking our own personal inventory to explore what we are filling our cups with is helpful. Looking at who we honestly are or what is in our cup can be humbling and also beneficial.

Joy, Gratitude, Peace, Love, Acceptance, and Understanding are all attributes I believe we want and need for a happy fulfilled life. 

And then there are all of those other emotions and behaviors that frankly do not look good spilling out of us. 

The good news is if we have an awareness of how we are, and how we are showing up to the world and to those around us, we can choose what goes in our cup. What do we want spilling out? For many things, there is an opposite: hot-cold, light-dark, rich-poor, short-tall.

Some other opposites: 

If you find yourself hating someone or something……practice Love. 

If you find yourself being judgemental…..practice acceptance.

If you find yourself being unforgiving……practice forgiveness.

If you find yourself sad and full of grief….practice joy and gratitude.

If you live in fear…..practice trust.

If you are full of anxiety….practice calmness.

If you are impatient……practice patience.

You get the idea.

Understanding and knowing how we are is empowering. It is only when we shine a light on it bringing about awareness that change will happen. 

Let’s be aware of what is spilling out of us:

* the next time that driver cuts us off, or is driving slow in the fast lane. 

*when the day is not going our way and now someone is getting on our last nerve

*when we disagree with a friend or family member about politics

*If you or someone you love gets a bad diagnosis

*when you are totally frustrated with someone or something

*when there is only one brownie left, it is yours and someone else takes it.  That is serious !!!

*Etc  Etc

What is in your cup today as you read this? Are you happy with what you have chosen for your cup? If not, pour it out and start over. It is a choice. Are you in control of what is in your cup, or are you allowing others or situations to determine what gets to be in your cup? 

May your cups be filled with beautiful Blessings. 

In the Flow,

Donna