Are You a Filler or a Dipper?

I just finished listening to a great book on tape called How Full Is Your Bucket? The focus of the book was that the majority of our interactions are either positive or negative. We rarely have neutral interactions. So the book begins by asking the reader to think of his/her last interaction, was it positive or negative? If it was positive, then she had just filled someone’s bucket and if not she had dipped from someone’s bucket.

I, of course, immediately thought of my most recent interaction and am proud to say that I did indeed fill someone’s bucket. However, the book clearly defines that one must fill buckets without dipping into other’s buckets. Now, it gets tricky. Did I just make someone feel good at the expense of someone else? In my most recent interaction, I didn’t. But I can sure think of some times when I’ve done some serious dipping to fill someone else's bucket.

The book posed a challenge to make a conscience effort to fill at least one person’s bucket everyday. You could put a “drop” in their bucket by giving verbal praise, lending a helpful hand, giving an unexpected gift, leaving a voice mail, or sending an email or text. How cool would it be if we all began to make a conscience effort to be fillers and not dippers?

So, I’ll ask the question again…are you a dipper or filler?