Thursday, August 11, 2011

Half Full Logic

The other day Eliza Grace noticed someone wearing this Life is Good© t-shirt:
I asked her if she understood the underlying message in the words. She didn't, so I talked about optimists and pessimists (or as Scott prefers, realists) and how people see circumstances from different perspectives.

I told her I was more of a 'glass half full' person because I prefer to see the upside of a situation and expect the best outcome. Her Dad is more 'glass half empty,' as he tends to anticipate the downside of a situation and feels more prepared in the event of a negative outcome. I then asked her if she thought she was a 'half full' or 'half empty' kind of person.

Her first response was that felt she was more 'half empty' because she tends to anticipate the worst of a situation first. She was then quiet and thoughtful for a moment and then said this:

"Wait a minute. You know, I take that back. The word empty means there is nothing. And so 'glass half empty' doesn't make sense because there is something in the glass to begin with. So I think I should be a 'glass half full' person from now on. Because, no matter how little is in there, at least it's something."

Can't argue with that logic.

1 comment:

Rodney C. said...

I'm going to have to side with the "realist" in your family!