Kay:
Hey there Questers! It is June 12th, and also Buddha Friday for Episode 115! And so, we’ve got a Buddha quote for you today! He says that, “Drop by drop the water pot is filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.”
Shi:
Oh, Buddha – bringing us that wisdom before the weekend! This is such a goody, I love it!
Kay:
Yes! It is such a great one because it speaks to Shila and I’s favorite, least sexiest word ever: Consistency.
Kay & Shi:
*(Laughter)*
Shi:
That’s exactly what it speaks to! And, it is a very unsexy word, but with very sexy results! Consistency is the creator of all of the good things in our life that we want. It’s also the birther of all the bad things that we don’t want in our life. It is the vehicle that gets us to where we’re going. So, you could be drop by drop filling your water pot, or you could be scoop by scoop taking it out, but you can’t just fill the water pot of life in one big swoosh…
Kay:
And, I think that this is where many people start getting frustrated. Millennials kind of have this tag as entitled because we expect that, when we turn on a water faucet, that the bucket just gets built. But, it really happens drop by drop, day by day. And, if you’re a wise person, when you’re gathering little by little, you’re filling yourself with GOOD.
Shi:
It’s a great metaphor, and it’s such a good turn of phrase to hear that metaphorical dripping, and get the visual of drop after drop – the water pot being filled. Now, we have to think about the fact that, in Buddha’s day, there wasn’t a faucet, right? And so, people had to collect literally drop by drop. And then, by being able to translate this metaphor into how we make ourselves good, we can see that it really is this little by little progression. You know, the beautiful thing is that we all get the same 24 hours in the day before the clock resets, and you’ve probably heard us talk about that in the past. So, each day we have the opportunity to put some drops in our bucket and put drafts into others. And, ultimately we can get that bucket to overflow with the water we’ve been putting inside!
Kay:
Well, I think that overflowing bucket is the one that all of us ultimately want to get into. We all want that bucket where you are so joyful, and so grateful, and so energized by your life, that it spills out onto other people and makes them feel joyful, grateful and energized as well! Plus, when your bucket is actually overflowing – that means you no longer have to dig into your own resources in order to give that to other people, because it is so abundantly flowing over in your own life! If you heard Shila speak in this Monday’s podcast, she talked about this idea she had when she was younger. The idea was that, if she just made enough money, she wouldn’t have to think about the money at all. And, that’s exactly the vision here! You make enough money so that it can just flow as flawlessly and freely as you want it to. And, it’s the same thing with our Buddha bucket of goodness! What if you were making enough happiness, to allow it to flow freely? What if you had enough good in your life that it overflowed good into the lives of others?
Shi:
I love that! And, what I love too about this quote is that it lends such a relieving perspective. Because, oftentimes, we think about something (let’s just take the proverbial water bucket of race relations – because that’s rather hot in this moment)! And so, you may want to do something to help fill that bucket, but it’s a very large bucket, and it’s been getting scooped out of for quite a long time. But, if we think about it through this drop by drop lense, it can help relieve some of that pressure. Because, we could all be responsible for putting a few drops in, but that doesn’t mean we’re expected to fill that whole bucket. I can’t solve that whole problem, but I could give some drops. And, Kay and I have been using this language a lot, especially when it comes to our BOLD Conversation: Bridging The Racial Divide series, which hopefully you caught yesterday’s episode, and have been joining us every Thursday on our Facebook page for those 😉 But, in these conversations, we’ve been saying that we know that a couple of conversations aren’t going to change the world, but we do hope to put drops in the bucket towards progress and change.
Kay:
And, when you’re considering which proverbial buckets, and proverbial drops, that you’re putting things into, there are societal buckets that you can fill that will make change in the way that your values align with. There are personal buckets that you can fill that will help you to live a more valuable and valued life for yourself. There are the family buckets that you can look to fill, and the fitness buckets that you can look to fill…So, there are lots of little places and pockets in your life that require this drop by drop, in order to become filled to the place of overflowing. And, once they are overflowing, that’s when what’s inside of them can freely flow to others as well. And, when you’re really being wise about it, you’re intentional about filling your own bucket with the things that do good for you. So, what does the composition of your daily life look like? If your daily life isn’t something that you like, or your results that you’re getting right now aren’t what you want, then the place you’re going to find the things that need to change is in your daily habits and your daily life. Where the water drops into the bucket every single day is where you’re going to find the biggest change for the longest lasting results!
Shi:
Right? It’s like, the water of our lives is time. And, how we invest that time ultimately ends up determining the buckets that we fill. So, let’s remember, before we go into our weekend, what our Buddha Friday quote was for today. He says, “Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.”
Kay:
Thanks Buddha! So – your quest for the day is a water quest, so you can quest your weekend best! So, hydrating is so super simple, but don’t go calling this quest too basic, because water is BASIC-ALLY what we’re made of! Water is 70% of your body, and it deserves to be a top priority in your life, on the daily. SO – your quest for today is to: Drink your full serving of water. We’re supposed to get 64 ounces a day, which is eight, eight ounce cups! AKA: Eight regular sized cups of water, people! So get out there, and get drinking! Are you ready?
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
