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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 1263 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
What's In Your Cup? - Ask Gramps


Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge.  Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy.  Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1263 of our Trek and time for our Philosophy Friday series.  Each Friday, we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life, and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.  As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can ‘Ask Gramps.’   Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, this is not possible.  No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas.

We may mix it up a bit on our Friday episodes, but will strive to keep them down to earth and enjoyable.   If you have any questions that you would like to ask Gramps, please email them to guthrie@wisdom-trek.com

So the question for this week is:

“Hey Gramps, I know we should have self-control, but sometimes family members, friends, and work associates really get on my nerves, and I end up saying harsh words to them, which I probably shouldn’t.  What wise tips do you have to help me overcome these negative character traits?  
What’s In Your Cup?
First of all, you must accept full and total responsibility for your actions and reactions when you are dealing with other people.  Yes, I understand that other people may irritate you and make you angry at times, but you are not responsible for how they treat you, only how you respond to others.   Our actions and reactions are based on what we allow to permeate our minds.

Let’s say you are at the office, or even at home, and you are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere, including on yourself.

Why did you spill the coffee?

"Because someone bumped into me!!!"

No, I am afraid that is the wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.

Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

Had it been a cup of chocolate milk, you would have spilled chocolate milk.

Do you know why?  Because whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.



In the same manner, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you, will come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get really rattled, then whatever is inside you will come sloshing out spilling on whoever is near and all over yourself.

So I have to ask you... “what's in your cup?"

When life gets tough, what spills over?

Joy, gratefulness, peace, and humility?

Or… Anger, bitterness, harsh words, and reactions?

You have to realize this important point, life provides the cup, and it is up to YOU how you choose to fill it.

Today let's work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, and kindness, gentleness, and love for others. The Bible tells us what happens with our cup, referred to as the heart, and it depends on what we fill our cups with.  Matthew 12:33-37

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good,