We talk a lot about “filling our buckets.” A phrase we use to describe when good feelings are running high. When we feel fulfilled or full-filled. Everything good in our lives seems to be surrounding us. If we had a bucket of “good” in front of us it would be full with all the things we attribute as good in our lives. That doesn’t always happen which is why when it does it is such a marvel to us that we make a remark. We say, “that filled my bucket” or “my bucket is full,” or sometimes even, “my bucket is overflowing!”
Why isn’t our bucket full all of the time?
For some it might be because there is not a lot of good in their lives. That concept is easy to accept as life is filled with challenges, loss, pain, and strife. One only needs to open a newspaper or watch the 24/7 news cycle to see. Yet, removing these challenges doesn’t necessarily result in goodness filling the void. In other words, a less challenging life does not necessarily lead to filling our buckets.
So if the absence of challenges, loss, pain, and strife is not the solution, what is?
The solution is to have an empty bucket ready to fill.
Easier said than done.
Sure, when we are first born, we are given this proverbial empty bucket which we promptly begin to fill with our perceptions of the world, of others, and ourselves. This continues through our lifetime. These perceptions are often negative, jaded, and unkind. There are biases, judgements, resentment, guilt, and envy among others. They take up space in our brains and our hearts – our buckets if you will. It’s hard to fill a bucket with positivity when it’s already filled with negativity.
Our instinct is to acquire more goodness to cancel out the bad, as if good dilutes bad. Yet it doesn’t. The respective mass of good and bad take up an equal amount of space in our buckets. That’s why when you are battling depression, surrounding yourself with lots of positivity generally does not lead to you feeling more positive. If our buckets are already full we cannot retain the goodness surrounding us.
So if our buckets are filled with negativity what can we do?
Empty our buckets. Then clean them out.
Pour out all the biases, judgements, resentment, guilt, and envy from our hearts and minds, and then wash ourselves of any residual poison that may still coat the inside of our buckets. Much like cleaning out a coffee mug. Pour out the old coffee, then wash the mug before using it again.
If we do that – empty our buckets and rinse them out – then we will be ready to accept more of the goodness that surrounds us in life. And as we do that, then there will be less room for the negative. Soon our buckets will be full with positivity and goodness that will lead to a happier and more full-filling life.
This is not to say that our buckets will be completely free of negativity. That’s just not possible. However, if we remain committed to keeping a clean bucket, routinely washing it out over time we stand a better chance of retaining our fulfillment.
So grab your bucket and get started.
Tip it over and pour it out so you can fill it back up again with all that is indeed good in our life.
