Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?

Out of the blue at dinner tonight, Little Girl declared that my mother and I needed to smile at each other so we could be "bucket fillers" instead of "bucket dippers".

"What do you mean, sweetie?" I asked her.


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In the manner of 5-year-olds, her explanation was lengthy and a bit scattered, but the gist of it was that we need to do things for ourselves and for each other that "fill our bucket" and we need to make sure that we aren't stealing from other people's buckets by being mean to them, otherwise known as being a "bucket dipper". It seems there is a book at her school about this very thing that she read the other day. Clearly, it made an impact.

And she made an impact on me tonight. Her talk of bucket fillers and dippers reminded me of what got me excited about the idea of running my own business in the first place. I enjoy my full-time job and I'm good at it, but it doesn't fill my bucket. What percentage of my bucket is filled by my job all to often is countered by the "dips" from my bucket that happen when my job leaves me too little time or energy for my super-charged (and favorite) bucket filler: my family.

While Little Girl was reading her Bucket Book, I've been reading a book of my own about making the most out of the eight hours a day that we're not at work or sleeping. (And, yes, I do recognize the irony of spending those eight hours reading a book about how to maximize those eight hours.)

I want to use those other eight hours to make my bucket overflow. I want to receive the spiritual uplift I get from using my talents to help fill the buckets of those around me. THIS is what has kept me in the constant refrain of "I want my own business" for the past three or four years. I have talents and gifts to share and I've learned over time that my bucket runneth over when I help others' buckets runneth over.

When I have those moments of self-doubt, those moments of fear - fear of failure, fear of success - this is what I shall return to. My business dreams, and the people I'll help when those dreams are realized, are what will fill my bucket.

What fills your bucket?