I“When a glass is half full of water, how do you view it? How do you perceive it?” The author Seikan Kobayashi says that there are three ways you can view it. First, with displeasure and dissatisfaction that it is only half full. Second, with joy, feeling glad that it is half full. And third, with gratitude, being thankful for the kindness of whoever left half for you. However you view or interpret a situation like this, you yourself are the one who is assigning it some sort

“When a glass is half full of water, how do you view it? The author Seikan Kobayashi says there are three ways to view it. First, with displeasure and dissatisfaction that it is only half full. Second, with joy, feeling glad that it is half full. And third, with gratitude, being thankful for the kindness of whoever left half for you. However you view or interpret a situation like this, you are the one assigning it some sort of meaning.

One day, as Kacchayana was approaching a river, he heard weeping. He stopped and, parting the tall grasses, saw an old woman crouching on the riverbank. He asked her in the gentlest possible voice, "What unhappiness makes you weep this way?" At first, she stiffened in fear. But the man's kind eyes gazing down on her eased her alarm, and haltingly she told her story.

For the rest of his life, Subhuti abided by these teachings and never again became angry, no matter how much he was persecuted. Severing all attachment to his own being, he achieved a state of selflessness and was revered as the disciple who understood the doctrine of the Void better than all others.

In which case, perhaps what matters most is that we demonstrate—through the very way we live our lives—our ability to accept any kind of hardship and to go on living with an awareness of gratitude for the life we are receiving in the present moment. As a result, when we hear people who are suffering with troubles give voice to what is on their minds, we will be able to offer them words of strength and encouragement.