The idea behind “Bucket Fill-osophy” is that we each have an invisible bucket and a dipper. Our bucket is always in a state of being emptied and filled depending upon what other people say and do to us.
When our buckets are full, we feel really good. When we use our dippers to fill other people’s buckets by saying positive and kind things, we also fill our own buckets.
When other people dip from or empty our buckets, we feel terrible and often empty ourselves. Likewise, when we dip in the buckets of others, we also take away from our own. An empty bucket sours our outlook, zaps our energy, changes how we see the world and ourselves and undermines our will.
So we have a choice, every moment of every day, we can fill or we can dip. Like we have observed in Ubuntu, in helping others, we are always helping ourselves. What we choose profoundly affects our own lives—our relationships with others, our sense of who we are and what we offer the world, our health and our happiness.
So what can you do, starting right now to incorporate the Bucket Fill-osophy into today?
1. Shine a Light on What’s Right
Focus more of your effort and energy into things that are good and working. You cannot always fix bad situations but you can find and create more good ones.
2. Take the Risk to Invite People Into a Friendship With You
Friendship takes some risk, it can make you feel vulnerable but a good friend (and more bucket fillers) is always worth the effort.
3. Recognize When You Have Been a Dipper & Take Steps to Do Better
Don’t beat yourself up when you mess up, say the wrong thing but apologize where you can, that in and of itself can fill a bucket and try to consider a better choice for the next situation.
4. Give Unexpectedly
It doesn’t have to be material, in fact time, care, concern are worth so much more. Not only will you fill someone’s bucket, you will fill yours as well. You will feel good about the person you are becoming.
5. Flip the Golden Rule Around
Don’t do to people what you want, do what they want. What fills your bucket may not be what fills theirs. Trying to really see a person and understand them is one of the greatest gifts we offer each other as humans.
APA: Philosophies of education - Upload & Share PowerPoint ... (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/sp8367/philosophies-of-education
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