Saturday, May 28, 2011

The glass that never was

There are 2 very famous ways to look at the 200 ml capacity glass that has 100 ml of water in it. People of both ways have their own crap to brag about. The OPTIMISTS, who look at the glass as half FULL, are so busy in their obsession about positivity and happiness, that they do not realize that the glass is only half as good. The glass will quench only 50% of their thirst. The PESSIMISTS, who look at the glass as half EMPTY, are so depressed and given up, that they do not realize that 50% of their thirst can still be satisfied, and that half the world is better than they think.

The problem with either way of thinking is that in either case, the glass is viewed as a BAD event in life. Therefore, how you VIEW or REACT to that bad thing, determines if you are optimist or pessimist.

What they forget, though, is that one can never really SEE, or LOOK AT, glass or water. Both glass and water are transparent, and therefore, truly speaking, you are only looking at the outside of the glass, on the other side. This is where I jump in, as the 3rd idiot.

I say, why view the glass as a bad event only? I say, the glass represents JUST ABOUT ANY event in life. And, instead of RISING or FALLING due to that event, I should simply IGNORE the glass, and look straight ahead in life. 2 years ago, when I had graduated out of my MBA, I had to sit home for 6 months, depressed, due to the recession. With no job coming, and a broken heart, I would never have imagined then, that 2 years hence (which is today), I would have a decent job, and I would be writing a blog from my laptop on a relaxed Saturday afternoon. The mistake I did at that time was that I tried to be too much of an optimist, trying to find meaning in that depression. I never looked at the bigger picture by IGNORING the glass. Had I looked straight up right and ignored the glass, I would clearly have seen this life of today, and may be I would have reacted differently.

For those still confused about the crap above, my point is simple. The glass represents any event/thing in life. Do not read too much into that event. Do not look at things THROUGH the glass. Regardless of whether you see it half full or empty, what you finally see is a very diluted and unclear vision of the future. Instead, I say, IGNORE that EVENT in life as a one off and keep looking straight ahead. Do not always try to rise or fall from that event , because every new moment becomes a new event. Ignore the glass, and look at life directly. That’s a much better picture of the future.

3 comments:

Rujuta said...

good post N....u know what i'd rather see in my glass? ;)

Silver Surfer said...

Hey Nikhil, good post but I think by ignoring the glass, you are still being OPTIMISTIC about ur future and not worry about your present. :-)

On the other end, if you replace the water in the glass with Beer/Whiskey/Wine/Rum/Vodka, you know what, no one will ever think about glass being half empty or half full and just enjoy their drink..
:-P

Daneshia said...

i like it and makes a lot of sense!!!