My local library has a huge book sale twice per year in a warehouse. Wandering the aisles is entertaining and you never know what you will find. I bought and just finished reading “How Full is Your Bucket?” by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton. It is a short, easy to read book that uses a metaphor of a dipper and a bucket to help us increase our happiness and improve our relationships.
According to the book; “Each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it is empty, we feel awful. Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people’s bucket – by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions – we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from others’ buckets – by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions – we diminish ourselves.”
On this blog I write a lot about how health, wealth and happiness are things we choose with every decision we make. This book helped me to take this concept to a whole new level. We can help each other choose to be healthy, wealthy and happy. How cool is that? I mean think about it. If we can interact with each other positively, we fill not only their bucket but our own. It is a win-win! Full buckets “give us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic.” I don’t know about you but personally I think the world could use a big boost of optimism.
In a post titled 2 Life-Preservers, I wrote about avoiding people who sap your energy. Don’t let Debbie Downer and Ned the Nosy Neighbor suck you into their downward spiral. Their bucket must be pretty empty. I wonder what each of us can do to fill it without letting them dip from our bucket? Maybe a kind word and a warm greeting as we walk run away from their negativity.
If we can think about our own interactions with others using the metaphor of a dipper and a bucket, we can begin to eliminate our own bucket dipping. If we can catch ourselves being sarcastic (guilty), poking fun (oops guilty) and complaining (damn) and stop ourselves from the negativity we can begin to reduce our bucket dipping. What if we could take it one step further? Replace the sarcasm with positive energy, the poking fun with an offer to help and the complaining attitude with a smile – we could fill our own bucket while simultaneously filling others’.
Some general bucket filling suggestions
- Express your gratitude to someone important to you. Earlier this year, I wrote a letter to a dear friend who has had a big impact on my life. It made me feel good to express my feelings and it made her day to read it.
- Focus on what is right instead of what is wrong.
- Say please and thank you.
- Give recognition to others for hard work and effort.
- Really listen to others – don’t fake listen.
- Tell your friends and family how important they are to you. They deserve full buckets!
- Smile.
- Compliment others by name.
- Don’t complain.
- Stand up for the underdog.
We can choose health, wealth and happiness by consciously choosing to fill the buckets of others. We can choose health, wealth and happiness by not dipping from the buckets of others.
By doing this, we can start a revolution. We can change the world.
The authors remind us that if we fill 2 buckets a day, and the owners of those buckets fill 2 buckets, that after 10 days, 1000 buckets will be filled. A full bucket gives us boundless energy. A full bucket gives us infinite patience. A full bucket gives us a positive outlook. When we have plenty of energy, patience and positivity we make better choices. Better choices put us and others on the path to health, wealth and happiness.
Let’s make all of our buckets overflow!
If your bucket is not overflowing – what are you going to do about it?
Lake Girl