What’s in your cup?

I was on Facebook and I came across this analogy that started something like:

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone walks by you and bumps your arm making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee?

Many people look at the catalyst (the person bumping your arm) as the blame for the spillage but the spilled coffee is caused by the person holding the coffee — you.

If we look at the above analogy, if there was no coffee in the cup, there wouldn’t be a spill. So in order for someone bumping into you to affect you, you’d need to have something in your cup.

Everything comes from within. We shouldn’t blame others for our reaction to their actions. Whatever is within us, like the coffee in the cup, will come out when our inner world is changed by external forces.

Some people blow up in anger when an external forces impact them. Other people retreat within themselves to understand the lesson they were supposed to learn by that external impact. Whatever the reaction, it is caused by whatever is already inside you.

Think of yourself as the cup. If you are filled with joy, gratitude or a smile might spill everywhere. But if you are filled with anger, hate or a grimace might spill out.

Look within and ask yourself: “what’s in my cup?”