A Saga of The Glass Half Full or Half Empty
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
02 March 2026
" The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran has generated two contrasting reactions. Those who're loyal to him and are devout Shia Muslims, can be seen crying, beating their chests and cursing the US and those (esp. women) who were at the receiving end of his oppressive regime all these years can be found rejoicing and thanking the US Army and Trump. It's all a matter of perception. We all perceive differently. There's always a bagful of perspectives. "
Translated from Dutch, a reader's mail to the editor, courtesy, nu.nl (Digital)
“Two men look at the same bars: One sees mud and one sees the stars.”
― Frederick Langbridge
"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I'm thankful that thorns have roses." When I read Alphonse Karr's beautiful words, I got an altogether new perspective to look at things differently. We grumble, grudge and gripe that life has no purpose. We forget that existence has a definite purpose. Every life has a profound meaning and every occurrence has an essence to make sense. Forget the eschatological beliefs of after life. Nothing of that sort exists in any other world beyond human life on this earth. We, therefore, must strive to make our existence and presence on this earth with a positive outlook, ignoring anything we perceive as negative or useless. Richard Chenevix Trench rightly said, " Some murmur when their sky is clear/ And wholly bright to view/ If one small speck of darkness appear/ In their great heaven of blue." We are all so accustomed to treading on a smooth surface, that even a slight jerk perturbs us.
We start cursing and abusing and conveniently forget that so far we walked on a path that had no potholes. Ernest Hemingway was in love with a nurse, who nursed him back. She was eight years his senior. Unfortunately, their love didn't culminate in marriage. But that nurse was later to be immortalised as Catherine in one of the greatest novels of all time, "A Farewell to Arms." Someone asked him, "Didn't you rue the parting." " Yes, I did, but then I thought of sublimating the pangs of parting in the pages of a novel rather than the pegs of whiskey," was his classic answer. He found a meaning in severance. Life depends upon how we look at things. It's a saga of the glass half full or half empty. An optimist sees it half full and a pessimist will find it half empty. The way attitude determines the altitude, outlook also decides the outcome. Things happen because we unknowingly want them to happen. Nietzsche was in a mental asylum. His beloved younger sister came to see him. She came to meet her celebrated brother and collect his jottings that later took the form of the very famous book, " My sister and I." She was crying inconsolably because she never saw her brother in such a sordid condition. The great man had a semblance of sense. He told her not to cry and said, " It's only in the chaos of a bedlam, can a man like your brother think lucidly. Isn't the whole world a big mental asylum? So, don't cry. Go home." Even in that squalid state, "the deranged genius" could find meaning to keep his morale alive and afloat. Things are never as bad as they seem. We keep resenting and ruing and never bother to find the import of a perceived mishap or predicament.
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh cleared all the hurdles in his ICS exams. There was just one test left: Judging the equestrian skills of the candidate. Alas, he failed and had to come back to India. He eventually became a great spiritual master. Had he been selected, he would never have been able to flower his innate wisdom. We must take every apparent curse as a boon and count our blessings, which are galore and eclipse our trials and tribulations. What we presume to be a mishap is actually a prelude to an achievement. Feats and accomplishments in life often come disguised. We have to peel off the veneer to get to the boon. Blessings are always quizzical and enigmatic. Only when we break the shell, we find the kernel. But for that, one needs sagacity, nous and also ample patience. Remember the lines of William Blake, " Joy and woe are woven fine, A clothing for the soul divine, Under every grief and pine, Runs a joy with silken twine." It’s an ability of the human mind to make a heaven in a hell and a hell in a heaven. Both are possible. What you choose to make, creates the difference. The choice is yours.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/saga-of-glass-half-full-half-empty/d/139083
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