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By Michael Angier | |||||
How Full is Your Cup? | |||||||
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I was trying to counsel a young
man the other day who was less than receptive to taking advice. He said he
wanted help, but in fact he wanted someone to fix his problems. He said he
wanted advice, but instead he wanted to be right. Isn’t it interesting when people
have all the answers and no money? Here was someone who was broke and
had no job. His life wasn’t working. You’d think he would be willing to
learn, but sadly, this was not the case. I’m reminded of the story of the
young mystic who traveled a great distance to study at the feet of a
revered sage. When the young man arrived, he proceeded to try and impress
the master with how much he knew and how wise he was.
Instead of asking questions, the
student ranted on about his beliefs and philosophies. The master listened
quietly for a long while. Finally, the student stopped
talking for a few moments. The master asked his guest if he would like
some tea. “Why, yes,” the young man replied. The old man began to pour the tea
into his visitor’s cup. But he didn’t stop when the cup was full. He
continued to pour as the tea overflowed into the saucer and then onto the
tabletop where it began to run out on the floor. “Stop!” the young man said. “The
cup is full. Can’t you see? It can hold no more.” “It’s true,” the wise one said.
“We cannot put more into an already full cup. And you are like that cup.
Until you empty yourself of yourself, your fullness will prevent you from
learning.” To some extent, we’re all a bit
like the young man. We sometimes have to let go of what we think we know
in order to embrace new ideas. We’re always free to pick up our
old beliefs and “knowings” at a later time, but we need to be open in
order to look at things in a new way. We need to approach knowledge with
the wonder and openness of a child. This way, we keep from missing
important lessons and learning helpful life strategies. It’s not easy, but we CAN learn to suspend our beliefs in order to listen with a clear and open mind. If we do, we won’t be one of those people referred to when people use the cliché, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” |
"He who has no inclination to learn more will apt to think he knows enough." —Powell
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Copyright Success Networks International.
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