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There are so many people in the world that go out of their way to find the negative, the errors, the wrongs, etc. in all areas of life they come into contact with. This article will discuss who 1/4 empty people are and the problems with having a 1/4 empty mentality.

I and others like me will see a glass that has 6 oz. of coffee in it and say that it is 3/4 full, but many others will say that it is 1/4 empty. There are several reasons why ' empty people see things in such a negative light. The first reason that the 1/4 empty people are so negative, is due to the toll that bad life experiences, personal choices, friends /acquaintances, etc. have had on their lives. The second reason is that they have "allowed" these things to shape their thinking. Now let's take a generally accepted rule, that if you can do something for 21 days - it will become a habit. Just imagine someone immersing themselves in anger over bad life experiences in their work place and at home. Imagine never putting bad personal choices behind you and learning from them. Think about having so called friends and acquaintances hurting them, and that person never being able to get over those hurts. Think about these and other negative things affecting a person thought processes for not just 21 days, but for months and years. Thus, such people have minds shaped by negativity, anger, disappointment, mistrust, etc. - the eye of these people's minds, can only see the glass as 1/4 empty.

As a Christian Life Coach, it hurts me to see people hurting this way. Allow me to explain why this mind set is and will continue to be so hurtful. There is a saying, "'into each life - a little rain must fall." Each of us is going to have good days and bad days. But we need to give our good days their proper due and celebrate them as positive achievements. And on the bad days, when we fall, we should think about what it was that made or caused us to fall and see getting up as a victory. Instead, the 1/4 empty people have mind sets that cause them to hold pity parties. If you do not encourage yourself for what you do well, you are not recognizing your victories. If we do not try to get right back up after we fall, we tend to wallow in pity. We ask pointless questions like, "why me"? The questions is pointless, because even if a 1/4 empty person has or obtains the answer to "why me" - they won't act on it. The difference between their expectations in life, home, friendships etc. and the harsh realities that 1/4 empty people are living in is huge. This large distance between their expectations and reality is their level disappointment. 1/4 empty people are so locked into their disappointment, that they can not or will not see past the bad experiences, negative choices, or painful hurts.

We should seek to improve ourselves so that we do not fall again or at least, not as hard as we did before. And each time we fall, we repeat the process to improve ourselves and do what is with in our control. It is with in our control to change our expectations regarding our life, work, friends, etc. To do this, we need to set our sites higher. In Colossians 3:2 it says, '2. Set your minds on things above and not on earthly things.' Those higher things are to: be the best person that one can be by always seeking to improve one's personal and spiritual growth; working as if you were working for the Lord himself, no matter if you are an employee or business owner. Set positive -attainable goals for yourself, so that you get to where you want to go. If you trust in God and do these things, you can overcome bad life experiences; you can put both put aside hurts from personal & professional relationships; and you can get past your negative choices.

You are going to fall, but don't print any invitations to pity parties. You can overcome, put aside and get past whatever caused you to fall. Seek out a helping hand. There are plenty of Christian Coaches and other such accountability partners that can help you change your mindset and set positive, challenging, and attainable goals for yourself. You do not have to be alone in changing your mind set over the next 21 to 90 days. Your first major victory is determining that you will no longer have a 1/4 empty mindset and then acting upon your new mind set by deciding upon and by putting into place the steps you need to meet this goal.

Copyright 2005 Stan Lewis