A couple years back I wrote about a simple concept used to teach children the proper way to treat others. It’s all based on a book about a bucket. Your bucket is either full or empty. When you’re kind to me, you’re filling my bucket. When you’re not, you’re dumping it. Pretty simple.
I was weeding the other day in my front yard with the help of my daughter, Adeline. I was thanking her for filling my bucket. I’m not sure how it came to me, and why, but it occurred to me that there may be more to this bucket thing than just the level of its contents. We all know people who walk around like their bucket is empty. You know the people. I’m talking bone dry. No matter how much you pour into their bucket, it just ends up empty again.
What is that?
I think their bucket might be leaky.
I don’t know where the holes came from but I bet you and I could guess. My best guess would be years of bucket abuse. They allowed people to poke holes in their bucket. They even poked some holes themselves. They didn’t realize they were doing this but that’s what was happening. This could have been the things people said and did to them. Or, the things people didn’t say or do. This could have been complicated by their own reactions and stories to compensate. This led to more holes, not less.
Maybe this makes a little sense?
Maybe not.
Either way, when you encounter someone whose bucket is empty and they’re trying to throw it at yours, remember this. Perhaps they aren’t targeting you out of malice. Maybe they’ve been carrying around a leaky bucket for far too long.
They just might need a little bucket mending.
