There are two things I absolutely love about my morning routine. One is spending time with my wife and daughter before I go to work and the other is having my morning cup of tea. I have baby daughter and she is now at the age where she is reaching, pulling and chewing on anything she can get her little hands on, including my delightful cup of tea.
The other morning, we were sitting in the lounge having our usual morning cup of tea and I had my daughter sitting on my lap. As I took the cup to my mouth for that first sip, she grabbed onto the rim of the cup almost causing it to spill the tea. She’s a strong little girl but obviously daddy is stronger. So I said to her, “sorry my girl but you can’t have my cup”.
The only thing that prevented the tea from spilling is that I was able, due to my strength, to hold the cup steady. As much as my little girl tried to grab and pull on the cup full of tea, I wouldn’t let it spill.
This got me thinking about life.
We all have our “cups”. Similar to my morning cup of tea, our “cups” are filled with the things that make us happy, with all the things that mean something to us. Our cups are filled with peace, joy, contentment, positivity and love. However, often times we let little things grab at our cups causing some of what is inside to spill out. Someone cuts you off in the traffic on the way to work, there goes a little bit of joy. You hear bad news on the radio, some peace just spilt out of your cup. You see all the people doing things you want to do, oops! just spilt some contentment and by the end of the day you wonder why you feel tired and discontented. Your cup is empty from all the spilling!!
Life, circumstances and people often try to grab your cup! It’s up to you to use your strength and resolve to make sure nothing spills out of that cup. Do all you can to keep the cup steady so that you can drink from all those wonderful things that make your life full.
Your joy and happiness are your responsibility, if you’re empty, its because you’ve allowed things to spill over (Pun intended).
Here are a few questions to ask yourself;
Am I actually being purposeful about filling my cup with with good things?
How often do I find myself allowing life, circumstances or people to spill out the good things I’ve poured into my cup?
Where do I need to strengthen myself in order to keep my cup steady?
Here’s something to remember; The next time you feel that you might be close to “spilling” think about your favourite cup of coffee or tea and say to life, “you can’t have my cup!”
