It’s About the Glass

 We’ve all heard the age-old debate: Is the glass half empty or half full? Some personality profiles even claim to reveal your inner nature based on how you answer that question.

But recently, my favorite gratitude evangelist, Brother David Steindl-Rast, offered a different take—one that stopped me in my tracks.

What if we stopped asking that question altogether?

What if the real magic lies not in what the glass holds…

but in the glass itself?

Let’s pause for a moment.

That glass—the container of your one wild and precious life—is already a miracle.

It’s strong enough to hold joy, pain, memories, laughter, grief, growth, and love.

It’s carried you this far.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop measuring what’s inside and start appreciating the fact that we have a glass at all.

Because the truth is, we are living in the great fullness of life.

We have access to experiences our ancestors couldn’t have imagined: clean water, vaccines, the internet, a really good cup of coffee, the chance to see the Northern Lights, the freedom to choose our path, and the miracle of a beating heart.

And yet, it’s so easy to slip into stories of scarcity—what we don’t have, haven’t achieved, or can’t control. But those stories are like drops of ink in clear water: they cloud what is, and distort what’s possible.

Let’s shift that.

Let’s take one moment—right here, right now—and name the things we usually take for granted.

Not to shame ourselves.

But to awaken ourselves.

To soften into appreciation.

To reconnect to our own sense of wonder.

Take 60 seconds. Grab a pen or open your Notes app.

Make your own list.

Here, I’ll start:

• Clean sheets and a safe place to sleep

• A strong, mobile body that still climbs mountains and dances in the kitchen

• The sound of a friend’s laugh

• A warm hug from my mate

• Access to nature trails, books, mentors, sunshine

• Music that brings me to tears

• Being able to read, to write, to learn

• People I love—and who love me back

• A working phone and the privilege of choice

• Clean water, daily coffee, deep conversations

• The chance to keep growing, no matter my age

• My dog snoring at my feet as I work

Feel that?

That’s the great fullness of life.

That’s what’s possible when we stop obsessing over how much is in the glass—and start bowing in gratitude for the miracle of the glass itself.

If you do this every day—even for one minute—your happiness will grow.

Not because anything outside has changed,

but because you’ve remembered what’s already here.

It’s not about emptiness or fullness.

It’s about the glass.

This one magnificent life.

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