Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Life and Coffee

As I was trying to think of something funny to write about coffee/tea and the types of emotions that go along with it, I remembered coming across a story which is inspiring as well as thought provoking. Though I wanted to write the post involving India somehow, I didnt want to ruin the story. Enjoy!!

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups--porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life; and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

Enjoy your coffee! “The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Now only if we try to look beyond the superficial things. The body that we carry is nothing but a shell and what matters is whats inside of us. The type of coffee we are inside and not the cups makes us who we are.

I do have to confess though that I do like the idea of collecting coffee cups :-)