About halfway through 6th grade, my son started using a phrase he learned from his teacher to help others realize he’s on the verge of overwhelm. He would warn us, “my cup is almost full to the top!” after which he would take a breather in his room before coming back to fulfill whatever mission we had laid out for him. I always thought of the glass half empy/half full in the opposite way, that when our cups are full we are able to pour some of our extra juju into the other things in life we treasure, whether it be for ourselves or for others. It makes sense though that when we pack into our vessels all the things we ask of ourselves and try to squish in the extra things for everyone else, that pressure could manifest as volcanic emotional overflow and mental exhaustion!
How full is your cup? Consider the whole picture of you, your ambitions, your emotional well being, your physical needs, your mental health, your work, your dreams, etc. You could, right now, bust out a paper and pen and draw a picture of a big cup, filling it with all the things that you hold inside.
Now consider your capacity to give, to pour some of your energy into service. While it is vital to fill your cup with the things that help you find balance, perhaps it’s equally as important to release some of the energy you hold to share it with the world. Then it cycles back, when we give, we receive. When we offer our time and energy to the service of something we truly care about, we are fulfilled.
To recap the Vital Living gatherings, in March we focused on nourishment, April’s theme was cleansing, rejuvenation for May, and flow for June. There are many ways to define these themes, so I want to encourage you to gaze inward, take a deep breath, and ask what your vessel needs to balance. Are you nourished? Need to gently detox? Finding playful ways to rejuvenate? Sense where the flow is leading you in your life, and where you might be in resistance to that flow. Now is the time to care for your cup, so you can then share your love and light with the world.