The Glass

Story time!! This story has been modified into my own version.

Melissa is feeling very unhappy, unmotivated, and lost. She knows she is alive, but she doesn’t feel like she’s living at all. Everyday, she does the same things over and over again. What makes it worse is that society expects her to be at a certain stage at a certain age. For example, she was expected to go to school until she was an adult. Now, she is expected to find a good stable job, purchase a home, and eventually get marry and start a family. It’s as if there is only one way to live and if she wanted to do things out of the ordinary, she only receives criticisms and disapproval.

But Melissa knows she wants more in life. She decides to attend a motivational speaking presentation in hopes of developing more clarity, passion, and purpose.

As Melissa enters the auditorium, she notices the speaker setting up the stage. She sees a glass of water that is half filled. Oh my goodness, Melissa thinks, he’s going to ask the audience whether the glass is half full or half empty. How typical. What a waste of time. Why do I even bother with these motivational presentations? They’re full of shit. Forget it, I’m leaving.

Just as Melissa is about to get up, the speaker’s voice boomed the room. “Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ted Robinson and I have a question for you. Is this glass of water heavy?” Ted Robinson lifts up the half filled glass.

Wait, what? Melissa was caught offguard. Is that glass of water heavy? How can a half filled glass be heavy? She is curious at the outcome and decides to remain seated.

Everyone around the room is whispering and discussing. Is Ted Robinson crazy? How heavy can a half filled glass of water be? It’s definitely not heavy. What kind of question is this? Is he playing around?

Ted Robinson interrupts the room. “Sorry, I can hear all of you discussing but no one is speaking loud enough for me to hear a proper answer. Can someone tell me what they think?”

A brave tall dude stands up. “Sir, it’s half a glass of water. How heavy can it be? Is this some kind of a joke?”

Ted Robinson smiles and says, “Ah, it’s definitely not heavy if I were to hold it up and quickly put it down. But what if I were to tell you to hold it for a day? Do you think your answer will remain the same?”

The man was flustered. “Oh, I didn’t think of it like that. Well, if you’re going to hold it for a long period of time, it’s going to be more tiring for sure.”

“Yes, and this glass signifies the conflicts and stresses we have in life. If we quickly deal with the problems and learn to let go, they will not affect us very much. However, if we refuse to put down the glass, it will eventually become very heavy. In fact, we will no longer be able to see or enjoy anything great that is happening around us because we would be using all of our energy trying to hold the glass up. Now, the question is, are you still holding onto your glass?”
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When we think of it like that, we realize the reasons why we are so tired and unhappy is because we are still holding onto the glass (things that make us sad, things that discourage us, ruined relationships, etc). We just keep thinking and going back to them. When people tell us we can’t do it, we believe it and we keep thinking about it. When people tell us we’re not good enough, we believe it and we keep thinking about it. We refuse to put the glass down.

Tips to remember:

1. If you believe it will work out, you will see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles.
2. Sometimes, we need to be hurt in order to grow. We must lose in order to gain. Some lessons are best learned through pain.
3. The first step to getting anywhere is that you’re no longer willing to stay where you are.

Learn to put down your glass!

Author: gchan7127

I just want to share all my knowledge, ideas, and experiences with the world. It makes me happy to know that I can inspire others. View all posts by gchan7127