Emptying our cup...to be filled again!

As we fiercely try to thrive in this competitive world, we are called to upskill and reskill in order to be relevant. We often hear people say that we need to move with time. So what does all of this mean? Does it call for a total revamp of our knowledge ?

Well, this is when we are reminded of emptying our cup!

All of us are wonderful people to be with, great performers at work, warm colleagues in a team and more, but the question is how long would these star qualities hold? It definitely wouldn't last a lifetime, especially in these current dynamic times.

The best place to draw inspiration is the retail industry, where they try to appease their customers with decked showrooms, new window displays and the 'new arrivals' counter right at the entrance to grab your attention. But all of this happens after what we often refer to as a 'Clearance Sale'. In layman's terms, this exercise is all about clearing the shelves or real-estate space to make way for 'new collections' because fashion or the season may have changed. This is about emptying the cup!

I would like to focus on emptying our cup and how it helps us to be relevant and wanted in our place of work, or society we live in.

“There is no joy in possession without sharing.” — Erasmus

Focusing on learning and enhancing our knowledge can lead to better opportunities in our professional life. We would definitely feel confident and excited about new topics learnt. It would boost our morale and as a result of this enthusiasm, our outlook to life would be more forthcoming.

On the flip side if we don’t share by emptying our cup, we then deprive others of an opportunity to learn and advance.

“The miracle is this: The more we share the more we have.” — Leonard Nimoy

Life could actually get boring if we are forced to be amidst outdated products, old releases or even old and outdated information. Imagine how frustrated you would be if the nearby Supermarkets were filled with products that had passed its validity or expiration date. Most of all, especially these modern days, imagine walking around with a mobile phone that is perhaps 10 years old.

Just as in a clearance sale, where there are people who would wait for that opportunity of having their desired products albeit at a reduced price, in life also, there are many who are yearning for someone to be their mentor, someone to support them and someone who could share their knowledge, wisdom or their life experiences, even if it is delayed.

So the next time, we are reluctant to learn something new or hone our current skills, let us ask ourselves whether we would rather have an outdated product or would we want the latest.

This concept of emptying our cup could also be applied to forgiveness. Sometimes, when we are hurt by someone else's actions, we may only forgive such people but not forget the incident. However forgiving wholeheartedly will only be good for our mental well-being.

Here are some questions for us:

1. Are we ready to upskill? How often do we upgrade our skills? Do we change with time?
2. Do we believe that our upgradation could mean benefit to someone else as well? It could be an opportunity for them, when we empty our cup by sharing.
3. As a result of sharing, do we collaborate with our team for collective success?
4. Do we create opportunities for freshers or new-job seekers to learn from us?
5. Do we share at least when we are blessed abundantly?

So let's look forward to emptying our cup with these two takeaways:

1. Share by emptying our cup of knowledge (if not wealth) with someone who could benefit.
2. Empty our cup so that we also advance in our thinking because we create space for new thoughts.

After all, knowledge increases by sharing and not by saving!!