I had a
conversation with a co-worker way, way back my first year as a counselor and it
stuck with me all these years. She was sad and it didn’t take long to recognize
it. When I asked her how she was doing, she described her husband, a Vietnam
veteran as having “issues.” There were times he’d lash out over what she
thought were small, almost petty things. There were other times when he’d not
respond at all over something when she fully expected a blowup. Unpredictability,
I guess, was his hallmark.
She said there
were times he’d tense up. Times he’d be sullen and uncommunicative. She never
quite knew what to expect from day to day, sometimes from morning to night.
But the part of
the conversation I recall that had the biggest impact on me was when she said,
“He tries to keep the ooze in a box in the drawer. But sometimes, there is so
much ooze, it’s bound to leak out and get messy.”
I think each of
us can relate to that statement because either we or someone we know, perhaps
someone we work with, even kids, have ooze. And sometimes as neatly wrapped and
tucked away as we think it might be, the ooze overflows and gets messy.
I’ve never been
a coffee drinker, not even in college. Once upon a time, I drank quite a bit of
tea, especially the flavored ones. When Kim and I go out to eat, I generally go
with unsweetened tea with lemon. Kind of flavorless, a little bitter.
Since I’ve been
on a diet, I’ve increased my water intake. I know it’s good for me, essential really,
but there isn’t a whole lot of taste. Still, I make sure I down my required
sixty-four ounces or more each day.
If you haven’t
noticed, I have to fess up and tell you that I am a Diet Coke-aholic. I know
the warnings and cautions associated with the drink, but I like the taste. Yet
because of my diet, I’ve actually cut back on my favorite drink. But still . .
.
So today, I ask
the question: What’s In Your Cup?
I’m not talking
about your coffee or tea or water or soda, but rather, metaphorically speaking,
What’s In Your Cup?
Think about that
for a moment . . .
What is it you
are carrying around with you, inside of you that might spill out? What is it
that you’re not talking about, not sharing with someone that has the potential
of oozing out of the box in the drawer?
A setback of
some sort? Some hurt feelings perhaps? A conversation or action that went
sideways? Money trouble? A relationship? A recent diagnosis for yourself or a
friend or loved one? Loneliness or aloneness?
What’s In Your
Cup?
Some unhappiness
undefined, unrecognized and unwanted but stuffed in a drawer in your cupboard
lurking, waiting for the ill-prepared for wrong-time, only to leak out and ooze
onto your shoes in front of everyone else to witness? The mess that might cause
someone to comment on the mess we are and try to hide?
Because Whatever
is Inside Your Cup is what spills out. Whatever we keep tucked away inside the
box in the drawer might leak. Maybe not at this moment, but sometime. Today.
Tomorrow. Next week. At the most inopportune time: a meeting, a get together,
some function. Perhaps an even worse time: when we are alone and most
vulnerable.
What’s In Your
Cup?
When life comes
along and shakes you, trips you and knocks you down, whatever is inside you will
come out. So ask yourself, “What’s In My Cup?” When life gets tough, what
spills out?
Will it be joy,
peace, compassion, kindness and humility or will it be anger, bitterness, sarcasm
and harsh words? Maybe each of us, you and I, need to check now and do some
heavy duty cleaning before it oozes out of the box in the drawer. Before it
spills out of the cup. Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
I sent the final
edited copy of my fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction Caught in a Web to Black Rose Writing. It will drop in April of
2018. Earlier this week I received a mockup
of the cover. Sleek and simple, yet thought provoking. You can check it out if you travel to my
author page at https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
I am working with Black Rose on several publicity campaigns so when the “drop”
nears, I’ll keep you posted. There will be an opportunity for preordering Caught in a Web, so when the link
becomes available, I’ll make sure you know. Unlike my others, this one will be
available in bookstores as well as Amazon.
Good News!
I am actively
seeking agent representation for Spiral
Into Darkness. It is more of a psychological thriller but with an attitude.
Please feel free
to connect with me at:
Twitter
at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook
at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction and are
looking for something to read over the winter, check out my novels:
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven
with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them
are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as
each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis
Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:
Two
thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis
Shattered Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:
Six desperate
and violent men escape. One of them stands in a kitchen facing a 14
year-old-boy with a gun. There are many reasons for the boy to pull the
trigger. Mainly, the man had started it all. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:
A 14 year-old-boy
is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. High up on an Arizona mesa, he faces
three desperate and dangerous men in hopes of saving his father and his
brothers. http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis