What’s in your cup?

A young man was telling their mentor a story about when they were bumped and coffee spilled everywhere. The mentor asked one question that changed the entire discussion …

video transcript

Young man was telling the story to one of their mentors about he had been walking down the street with a cup of coffee. He was bumped and coffee spilled on him … on the person that bumped him … and even on several other people that happened to just be nearby.

Mentor asked the young man, “Why did coffee spill on those people?”

Young man replied “because I was bumped”

The mentor smiled, shook their head, and said “No — the reason that coffee spilled everywhere is because coffee was what you had in your cup. If you had tea in your cup, then tea would have spilled everywhere. If you’d had water in your cup, water would have spilled everywhere.”

Whether you stumble on your own feet … whether you are accidentally bumped … or whether someone pushes you … in the heat of the moment, you will spill out what you are carrying around.

• If you are full of anger or pettiness — that’s what spills out

• If you are filled with grace or optimism — that’s what spills out

There are two lessons we can take from this story:

1) What’s in your cup?

2) When you see what spills out when other people are bumped, pushed, or trip … you can more clearly see what is actually in their cup.  By extension, be mindful of who is around you and what they are carrying, because it will inevitably spill on you and others.

See you next Monday