Half Full

Half full. Never half empty. Have faith for the best. Dream for a better tomorrow. Live each coming and going day of your life having a positive attitude and hope for the future. I have learned from one of my heroes that there is always tomorrow and have faith in it, and I am who I am because of what he has shown and thought me.
A story about my grandfather, in some ways sums up how he has lived his life. In March 2000 my grandparents had just moved into a new house that was easier for my grandmother. It had been a hard move for her to accept. On the way to Charleston, my mom and little brother stopped by to see their new house. Talking about the challenges of the move, my grandfather said that he always found ways to see his glass half full and that things would be for the best. The next morning a stroke took 7 languages, strength to his right arm and some of his vision. My mom and brother rushed back to Orangeburg. The next time my mom saw him, he was a seemingly broken man in the ICU. Poppie motioned with his left hand for them to come and sit next to him. Silence and sadness was all my grandmother and mom could feel. Poppie looked intensely at my mom and with his left hand pointed toward my grandmother. “Baba”, my mom questioned but his head shook “no”. He pointed again and at a glass that sat in front of my grandmother. “Do you need a drink?” Once again his head shook “no”. He looked directly at her and pointed again at the glass, the glass was half full. He looked with calm certainty right into my mom’s eyes and slowly pointed his good left thumb squarely toward himself. Here he was, voice silenced, vision impaired, and right arm paralyzed and his silent message remained: “my glass is still half full”.
If a man who has almost lost everything still sees his glass as half full, I think we all can. He has dramatically changed the way I view life. I do my best to wake up each and every morning and look at the bright side of the world, and the good in everything and everyone. Because of looking at the positive side of things I think this makes life worthwhile, and brings light into the world. So next time you have a bad day, remember all of the things you have and that you are thankful for. We should all look at our glasses as half full. If this was not just a hope or dream or some sort of fantasy we as people would no longer be half empty, but half full. The world would be a better place. Poppie is still alive, his voice still silent, his message still unchanged and louder than ever, and his glass is still half full.