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Each one of us has an invisible bucket.
It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us.
When our bucket is full, we feel great.
When it is empty, we feel awful.
Each of us has an invisible dipper.
When we use that dipper to 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 that dipper to dip from others' buckets ~ by doing or saying things that decrease their positive emotions ~ we diminish ourselves.
Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us a positive out-look 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.
So 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.
The idea of Bucket Fillers is based on Dr. Donald O. Clifton's metaphor of the bucket and the dipper. The first person to bring this idea to a school setting was "The Bucket Man", Merrill Lundgren. At the age of 92, The Bucket Man is still speaking and presenting about Bucket Fillers.
In our classroom, each student has a bucket. Everyone is encouraged to fill the buckets by writing kind words and compliments to each other. At the end of the week, we empty the buckets and read the nice things our friends left for us when they filled our buckets.
