Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty? The optimist says the glass is half full, and the pessimist says it’s half empty, but is there another option? Duke Redbird, First Nations Ojibwe Elder has another option. He gets a smaller glass so his glass is always full. That’s certainly another viable option.
Are your plans too grandiose? Do you need to scale them back? Does it not make sense to perform impressive work on a smaller project, than perform mediocre on a larger one? Should you scale back your goals into bite-sized pieces, and as you accomplish each piece, you build on it? Does it not make sense to have a smaller audience of engaged people, than a larger audience of people who do not care, who are only there because their friends are there, or for some other reason?
Teddy Roosevelt once said, ““Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy or suffer much because, they live in the gray twilight that knows not neither victory nor defeat.” Does it mean that you take should take on the big project, and if you fail, you learn from your mistakes and perhaps try again? Whatever you decide, you always have to make a choice.
In life, there are seldom only two options. The status quo may be an either/or situation so we are conditioned to choose one of those options without ever thinking that we could create a third, and a fourth and even a fifth option for ourselves. It’s all a matter of how we perceive things. The world is our oyster and we need to take advantage of it by practicing breakaway thinking. Instead of sticking with the status quo, why not take the time to create different scenarios like Duke Redbird did? If the options presented do not work for your situation, create and choose one that’s more appropriate.
Further Reading
The Invisible Mentor Interviews Duke Redbird, First Nations Ojibwe Elder
The Invisible Mentor Interviews Duke Redbird, First Nations Ojibwe Elder Part Two