Is there really a glass?

                A question was asked and somewhat skimmed over in class this week about; does Unity allow people to see the glass half empty?  That question has been in my head for most of the week and I have been really impressed with how much it has made me think (and rethink) my beliefs.  The whole “glass half full" question is one of those all-encompassing conversation pieces that always comes with an easy answer and will allow people to see what school of thought you come from.  For me, however, it is a cliché that we use too often to put people in boxes.  If you think the glass is half empty, you are what some would call a “Debbie-downer,” someone who is pessimistic and has their doubts about people and life in general.  If you think it is half full, then you are an optimistic, always seeing the good in people and in the world type of person.  This definition sounds like most, if not all Unity people.  So I start thinking, does Unity really not allow people to see the glass as half full? 

There is a terrible cliché that used to get thrown around in my home church when I was younger that used to drive me nuts and that is, “Fake it until you make it.”  Even as a teenager this bothered me because in the rawest of definitions I could come up with for it I understood that, while it could be used as an affirmative experience that stresses affirm-until-it-happens type of theology, in my mind, what it really means is that you should fake being happy during a moment of fear, anger or anxiety until you become happy.  That is, if happiness is what you are trying to achieve.  Ultimately, you are limiting your experiences by “faking” anything that is not what you are truly feeling at the moment.  With this thought process we basically ignore an issue until we forget about it and we’re back to the “Happy space.”  But what happens to enjoying the journey?  What happens to learning from our experiences and allowing our humanness to feel an emotion even if only to learn about it and use it to bring us to our higher good? 

                To get back to the cliché at hand here, the fact is that sometimes Unity does not allow people to see the glass half full.  This disappoints me to say, but the truth is I have seen time and time again where people are asked to brush away their fear or anger, to rise above the situation they are in and see the good in it, trusting that God has a plan and that even this situation was meant for your good.  I have even been the person giving that advice from time to time.  I believe this advice can be useful and life transforming, however, I think as humans, we need to spend some time in the muck, to see the glass half empty once in a while in order to better appreciate the times when we can see it as half full.  To let go of the judgment that if you don’t see it as half full you might be perceived as lacking something or unhappy is so important to your true authentic nature.  This experience is not always rainbows and sunshine.  When we are having a “glass-half-empty” day, it is ok to just be in that space and know that it too shall pass.  But next time I get there, I am going to enjoy it, be real with it and allow myself to have the experience. 

                Of course, I would never let a philosophical question like this go by without first letting my facetious mind have a moment of fun.  So my answer to the question would be that the glass is neither half empty nor half full.  In fact, it is completely full.  Just by changing your perspective of it slightly you can see that it is half full of water while the other half is full of air!  Just a shift in perspective!