My Cups Runneth Over

I think that priorities can be looked at as a series of cups. You have a family cup, a friend cup, one for work, money, health, love relationships. I happen to have one for writing and one for travel as well.

As you go about your daily life, you are continuously adjusting the level to which you fill your cups. There will be periods when say, your health cup may be a little empty (Too much pumpkin pie during the holidays?). Or maybe you're looking for a new job, so your work cup isn't as full as you'd like it. But the goal is to keep your fulfillment levels balanced across all of your cups. Give yourself a sort of tea party of happiness.

To do this, you have to take stock of your cup contents regularly. You have to identify the ones that are looking a little parched, and work hard to refill them. This can be especially tough when you're smitten with one of your other cups. It's easy to over-devote your attention to one.

But when you reach a point where all of your cups are brimming and flooding around you, it is an exquisite feeling. To strike that balance—reaping fortune and fun from your family and friendships, enjoying great success in your career, receiving bountiful returns for the work you do, having time to partake in your favorite hobbies, making time to take care of your body, and being overjoyed by the person who makes your heart beat a little louder—is to give your spirit the nourishment it needs to flourish. And an abundant life is the best life to live.