Apropos to...something...life, maybe?
Dec. 19th, 2007 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deltamissI received this in an email from a friend. I think it says just about everything.
A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite.
Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee.
When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering.
"You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems."
He continued, "Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups... Then you began eyeing each other's cups.
"Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided us. God brews the coffee, but he does not supply the cups. Enjoy your coffee!"
The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have. So please remember: Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
And remember - the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.
Sometimes, and not because anyone makes me feel this way, but sometimes I'm a little embarrassed to post pictures of my apartment because it IS old and run down and needs a lot of work that I can't afford right now. But, then I look at the pots where the grands and I planted all those herbs and flowers and remember the joy we found in them every day...or the house that Melanie and Jeff have made into a home...or the animals that own us...or the business that Melanie has built from nothing...or my chime tree...or the notes from Peyton and Mabry on the decrepit refrigerator (that needs defrosting again), and I remember how I got where I am, who I am and how happy I am to be me right now.
My 'coffee cup' literally 'runneth' over!
A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite.
Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee.
When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering.
"You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems."
He continued, "Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups... Then you began eyeing each other's cups.
"Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided us. God brews the coffee, but he does not supply the cups. Enjoy your coffee!"
The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have. So please remember: Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
And remember - the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.
Sometimes, and not because anyone makes me feel this way, but sometimes I'm a little embarrassed to post pictures of my apartment because it IS old and run down and needs a lot of work that I can't afford right now. But, then I look at the pots where the grands and I planted all those herbs and flowers and remember the joy we found in them every day...or the house that Melanie and Jeff have made into a home...or the animals that own us...or the business that Melanie has built from nothing...or my chime tree...or the notes from Peyton and Mabry on the decrepit refrigerator (that needs defrosting again), and I remember how I got where I am, who I am and how happy I am to be me right now.
My 'coffee cup' literally 'runneth' over!
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 09:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 01:11 pm (UTC)(((HUGS)))