Wildflower Writes

Have you read the book, “How Full is Your Bucket?” by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton? It was required reading by my company a few years ago, and I was surprised to discover my son learning the same concepts in kindergarten. The premise is this: Everyone has a bucket. When it’s full, you feel good. When it’s empty, you feel bad. You fill others’ buckets by doing things that make them feel good. You take away from their buckets when you do things that cause negative feelings. Your own bucket is filled when you fill others’ or when they add to yours. Although this much my 6-year old could grasp, it gets more complicated. The same things that fills some people’s buckets may not fill others. For example, words of affirmation may fill one person’s bucket more, and gifts may fill someone else’s more. Also, based on this concept, you have to make choices about spending time with people, depending on whether or not they tend to give to or take away from your bucket. You also have the c...

So, I’m pulling into the Burger King drive-thru and really wishing that I could have come a half an hour earlier for breakfast. I decide not to get too fancy, so I order a #10 (I think) whatever is a Whopper, Jr. combo meal, with cheese. And onion rings. And a Dr. Pepper. I realized that the amount I was quoted ($6+) was more than the listed price plus tax, but I was in such a good mood (see previous blog) that I didn’t really care too much. I was also distracted by a family friend whose wife works at BK. He asked me what I was doing there in the drive-thru line. I told him I was hungry. He said I should go to McDonald’s. When I threatened to tattle on him to his wife, he said, “Oh, I bring McDonald’s here all the time.” So at the window, the very cheerful but slightly confused worker asks me, “Did you order a double cheeseburger?” I hesitated, because I was actually considering the double cheeseburger before I finally decided on the Whopper, Jr. (with cheese). “No, a ...