HALF-FULL OR HALF-EMPTY, IT'S STILL THE SAME LEVEL

I used to use the glass half-full/half-empty illustration to show optimism versus pessimism. But a more nuanced understanding has to include the fact that it changes according to what we want it to be or  really believe it to be or what better suits our purposes.

In some situations, it would be better to say that the glass is totally empty or completely full as that is real perspective that is being communicated. But for argument sake, let's just say that most of the time the liquid is at mid level. The emptiness or fullness depends on who's in charge. And the perspective potentially changes when someone else is in charge even though in reality not much is different. Unless of course, there are two different glasses. Funny how size and amount can affect your optimism.

Another perspective looks at it as being full; it's just not full of the same thing. To me, this doesn't denote optimism or pessimism but rather a statement of what's there or that fullness is not determined by one thing. My Dad used to get so upset when a waitress didn't fill his second or third cup of coffee to the rim. To him, the concept of free refills meant refilled to the original level. My pointing out that they were nonetheless free made no difference. At the time, I didn't realize the philosophical, sociological, theological and political ramifications that were involved.

The overlooked aspect is what kind of liquid is in the glass. For some things, half of glass is quite enough, like poison. You might be glad that you didn't drink a full glass. Or not, if it didn't give you the desired affect. In AA they say one glass is too many and a hundred are not enough. I'm not sure if that applies to half-full and half-empty glasses, but I suspect that it does. To a kidney patient, a half glass of water might be overdoing but yet, the desire is quite likely for a full one. In some situations it's hard to say what's better but in others, it's pretty clear.

In the end, even with all the other considerations, it often comes down to how you are feeling at the moment or what you are like most of the time. Hypercritical people are likely going to see the negatives. On a good day, they are at best teachers who are assigning grade values based on their own criteria's. Noncritical people might not even notice. I suspect  that something in between is more practical, but I'd rather err on the side of possibility, acceptance and gratitude when I can. There's just too much that otherwise is missed.