You’ve seen it, a glass filled midway with water. 

You’ve heard the question: is the glass half full or half empty? 
The question really isn’t about the amount of water in the glass, but how the amount of water makes you feel: cheerful or gloomy. (Often described as reflecting an optimistic or pessimistic viewpoint.)
The question implies that you must be one or the other. 

It’s not one or the other.
It all depends on where you’re coming from.

Temperatures are a good example of what I mean.

For instance, if I step outside my door at the end of summer and find the temperature has fallen to 50 degrees, you’ll hear me exclaim, “BOY, is it COLD out here!” 

I immediately run back into the house to pull on long pants, long sleeve shirt, sweater, jacket, and maybe even a hat, before bracing myself to return for my walk. 

On the other hand, walking into 50 degrees at the end of a bitter winter, you’ll hear me shout, “Wow! Is it HOT out here!” 

Consequently, the hat, scarf, gloves, and fleece lined coat are shrugged off before I bound happily on my way. 

The temperature on both days was 50 degrees, but my reaction to that 50 degrees was vastly different.
So, why did the same 50 degrees seem hot one day and cold the next?

It all depends where you’re coming from.

Fifty degrees after living in eighty-and-ninety-degree weather is a goose bump shock.

Fifty degrees after living through sub-zero winter days is a trip to the Bahamas.

The same fifty-degree weather can feel cold or hot, depending on where you’re coming from.

This temperature example has a more important application when interacting with the people around me. The reactions I might witness from others may seem cheerful or gloomy, leading me to make certain assumptions about that person, that might be unfair.

Before jumping to any conclusions, I should pause to remember that what I see may be a reflection on where that person is coming from.

For example, if my shoelace snapped as I prepared to go out for my walk, I could have two very different reactions, depending where I was coming from.
Coming from a great night’s sleep or at the end of a pressured week, my reactions could run hot or cold.

It all depends on where you’re coming from.

March stands waving warning flags as we enter the month. Spring is coming. New life will emerge but beware it may be a bumpy ride.

March’s warning reminds me to treat others with patience, not asking whether the glass is half full or half empty, but rather wondering where that person is coming from and offering a smile or a kind word that may help them along their way. 

March reminds me that, half full or half empty, it all depends on where you’re coming from.