MOUSEY MOMENT … ARE YOU A BUCKET-FILLER OR A BUCKET-DIPPER?

Did you go on an Easter Egg Hunt this Easter? Was the race on to see who could collect the most chocolate eggs in your Easter ‘bucket’ (basket)? Were you disappointed when you didn’t fill your bucket?

Now that Spring is here and Summer is on its way, maybe you like to take the family to the seaside and play in the sand with your buckets and spades. There’s nothing more enjoyable, watching the hours of fun that children get from filling & emptying their buckets with sand, building the biggest and best sandcastle!

So, what’s all this talk about buckets?

There’s a lovely children’s book called ‘How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids’ by Tom Rath & Mary Reckmeyer, told through the story of a boy who learns a valuable ‘bucket filling’ metaphor & watches it come to life as the day unfolds.

It’s all based on the concept that every moment matters.
Each of us has an invisible bucket. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it’s empty, we feel awful. Yet most children (and many adults) don’t realize the importance of having a full bucket throughout the day.
In ‘How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids’, Felix begins to see how every interaction in a day either fills or empties his bucket. Felix then realizes that everything he says or does to other people fills or empties their buckets as well. Throughout the day he learns how easy it can be to fill the buckets of his classmates, teachers and family members & before the day is over, you’ll see how Felix learns to be a great bucket filler, and in the process, discovers that filling someone else’s bucket also fills his own. When we are kind and do nice things for someone, we fill their bucket too. In the process of doing “bucket-filling, the gratifying side-effect is that our own bucket gets replenished!

So the next question is this: have you filled your bucket today?

A second book in this ‘Bucket-Filling’ series is called ‘Have You Filled Your Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids’ by Carol McCloud.

This story reinforces the important lesson to teach and remind us all – that showing kindness and appreciation of others goes a long way to making this world a happier place for everyone, including ourselves.
While using a simple metaphor of a bucket and a dipper, author Carol McCloud illustrates that when we choose to be kind, we not only fill the buckets of those around us, but also fill our OWN bucket! Conversely, when we choose to say or do mean things, we are dipping into buckets. All day long, we are either filling up or dipping into each other’s buckets by what we say and what we do. When you’re a bucket filler, you make the world a better place to be! It’s the perfect guiding principle for the way we ought to behave in a Christ-like way – to understand & share the feelings of others, to nurture & protect those we care for, to help them grow & develop, to show kindness & respect, all basic truths that create a positive environment in our homes, classrooms, the workplace and community, the world we live in.

Our thought for this April is how to keep our buckets full … it’s all about the importance of being loving and considerate of other people. To keep our own bucket full, we need to either receive scoops of love from someone or ladle love upon someone else.

Jesus told us to be a bucket filler: “Love your neighbours as much as you love yourself.” (Luke 10 v27). I’m all for full buckets!

The Easter story reminds us that God, through Christ, wants to fill to over-flowing, all of our buckets! “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” (John 1 v16) 

Remember that God is a bucket-filler too! “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15 v58)  

And God needs us to do the work of filling each other’s buckets.

Each of us is figuratively equipped with a ‘dipper’ in our relations with others. When we fill other people’s buckets (by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions) we also fill our own bucket. But when we use the ‘dipper’ to dip from others’ buckets (by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions) we diminish ourselves. Bucket dipping refers to actions or behaviour that have a negative effect on those around us. When someone acts mean, in the things they do or say (or even simply ignores us!) they dip into our bucket, hijacking some of our happiness. Let’s not be bucket-dippers!

Like the “cup that runneth over,” a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic. But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy and undermines our will. That’s why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.

We face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another’s buckets or we can dip from them. It’s an important choice – one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health and happiness. We all need to practice filling one another’s buckets with appreciation and kindness, no matter where we work, what we do, or whom we come into contact with. It makes a huge difference for others as well as for us!

The third book is called ‘Fill a Bucket: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Young Children’ by Carol McCloud & Katherine Martin. And that’s our challenge for this month – fill as many buckets as you can! EVERY MOMENT MATTERS!