Is the glass half-empty or half-full?

An optimist has one answer, a pessimist has another. An engineer has a third answer: The glass is twice the size it needs to be.

Now, the engineer's answer is not directly responsive to the question, but it comes from a valid point of view. It's a correct answer to a different question, one that may better fit the real world problem—Do we have the right glass for the task at hand?

Before a problem can be solved, the correct questions must be asked. If we become too focused on one point of view, we may miss a key element as we try to analyze a situation. Keeping an open mind is a vital part of a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves.

—Anonymous

Tags: Keep an Open Mind

Twelve Step programs are full of helpful slogans. One is "Keep an Open Mind." Now, that doesn't mean that my mind has to be so open that my brain might fall out, but I need to be open to the guidance that the Holy Spirit provides. It will often be found in the words and actions that I find in my recovery group. It is less likely to come from my own reasoning—after all, it was my best thinking that got me in to the mess I'm in. An old-timer puts it this way: "When I'm lost in my own thoughts, I'm trapped behind enemy lines."

I need to remember the Eleventh Step and continue to pray for understanding of God's will for me. When I pray, "Thy will be done ... ," I must really mean what I say.

—John

Tags: Keep an Open Mind, 11th Step