The common allegorical question of the cup being half full or empty, is asking if you are a positive or negative person. If the cup is half full you are thought to be positive. If the cup is half empty, then you are considered to be negative. Your outlook on the “fullness or lack thereof” in the cup is a simple, “Positive or negative?”

The comparison of the half full cup to the half empty has often been used to determine if a person is happy (half full) or sad and depressed (half empty). Someone out there is famous for coming up with a psychological test that is based on how full or empty a cup is at 50% volume.

The question at hand can also be used to determine a persons’ status in life. How is that so? Generally a successful, happily married, and wealthy person will see the cup half full. A poor, unemployed, single individual will probably see the cup half empty. In no way, is that belief a universal truth, but statistics do imply that success raises happiness and lack of success brings about negative emotions.

The status of the cup can also be used to determine “where to go from here.” Think in these terms. You are a college student who is in their final semester of college. Tension and anxiety are at an all-time high, the highest in your life. Do you see the cup half full or half empty? If you find it half empty, you are implying you do not believe you have what it takes to face the new challenges in life. If you see the cup as half full, then you are confident in your abilities, and expect great things to happen in your future.

It is quite amazing at what you can find out about yourself by that age-old question. Do I find the glass half empty or half full? I personally see the glass at just half. What can this possibly mean?

I will assume that I am avoiding the question altogether by taking a neutral stance. My position is the equivalent of saying, “I am neither, positive or negative,” just neutral with the thought of “eh, who cares?”

Applying the cup rule to my own life is narrowing down my answer to two specific choices. I find it more helpful to look at the cup over a period of time. If I were to conduct research and be forced to choose between empty or full over the span of 2 months, then there will most likely be days I say “full” and days I say “empty.”

No one ever feels the same each and every day, but a person can generally stay on one side of the spectrum. For me, it is a toss in the air, and that is just how my personality exists. Some days it is half full and other days it is half empty. I cannot judge my life on a single question, although I can greatly admire the man or woman who came up with such an interesting personality test.