Fill me up, Buttercup

Drawing of a goblet. Which I made in MS Paint. Because I'm oldschool.

When I was younger, my mom used to sit on the couch in front of the TV, watch Star Trek, and drink diet Coke and snack on Cheez-Its. On Saturday nights, we'd sit on the floor in front of her and she'd put our hair in little pink sponge curlers for church the next day. That couch was where we would sit with her while she held the little premie-sized asthma machine to my baby brothers tiny face. And it was where my hankering for caffeine sprouted. Countless naps were taken on that couch by little blond children. It was where we recuperated from childhood sickness and injury. It was where BooBoo Bunny would comfort us, along with a sippy cup of water or milk.

That couch was where my mom told me about The Cup. One night, after being put to bed, I tiptoed down the long hall into the family room and stood in the doorway. I was upset, and I didn't know why, and that made me more upset. My mom asked me what was wrong, and I said I didn't know. She said, "Yeah, sometimes I feel that way too. Sometimes you just need to cry and get your cup filled."

She cuddled with me and explained that everyone has a cup. Sometimes it gets low, and we have to fill it back up or we become sad. There are different things we can do to fill the cup. Everyone's figurative cocktail is different. For example, for my cup to be filled at the end of the day, I need a little exercise, a few hours of productive work, a few hours of creativity, some down time, some fun time, and some time with my family.

Everyday is different, and everyone's recipe is different. For example, Conrad likes several (like, between 5 and 8) hours of exercise which also counts as fun time, 4-5 hours of work, some service, some family time, and a teeny bit of downtime (like, 30 minutes at the end of the day). If he gets all of that in, he goes to bed happy and exhausted.

His perfect day would be this:
Wake up before the sun, go surfing until breakfast, be active outside until it cools down, do some work for a couple hours, help kids with homework, watch a movie as a family, get ready for bed and snuggle to sleep.

The feeling of a full cup is unmistakable. So is the feeling if your cup isn't full. You can get sad, you might feel frustrated, you might even try to fill the void with things like eating or watching TV.

What is your personal cocktail?