Coffee

[sweeps]

Received this in email...

Coffee

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.

Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

[tinapbeana]

ooooh, i like that!! i got one as an email forward about coffee and life about a year ago:

a woman was visiting her mother, lamenting about the difficult times that had befallen her. her mother smiled, and asked her if she would help her in the kitchen. the mother placed a pot of water on the stove and brought it to a boil. then, she went to the fridge and got out an egg and a carrot. from the cupboard, she pulled out the coffee.

"What happens," the mother asked her daughter "when I put the egg in the boiling water?", dropping the egg in as she spoke.

"The runny middle gets cooked and hardens" the daughter replied.

"What happens when I put the carrot in?" askes the mother, dropping the carrot it.

"Well, it starts off hard, but gets soft and mushy when it cooks. What's this got to do with my problems, mom?"

the mother smiles and says "What about coffee? What happens when I put coffee in water?"

the daughter looks bewildered. "It just makes coffee. I don't understand!"

"The boiling water are your troubles, my dear. An egg, hard out the outside and all soft and runny on the inside, changes when exposed to hot water. It hardens."

"In contrast, the carrot starts out rigid and unyielding. But when faced with hot water, it quickly softens and turns to mush"

"But coffee, well, coffee doesn't change when it's put into hot water. You see, the water doesn't change the coffee: the coffee changes the water"

So the question is, when you're in hot water, are you an egg, a carrot, or coffee?

[Broken Arrow]

Great stories. Thanks for sharing.

[fairy74]

very nice and uplifting

[JanH]

Love the stories and the quotes. Thanks!

[Aleta]

Great stories for the weekend and much to think about. Thank you for sharing.

[scrava]

I love coffee!

and, what nice posts :-)

[teddrill]

mmm coffee.

so true...a good reminder!
thnx

[nanamom]

Nice, and remember the beans have to be ground to make a good cup of coffee So when life grinds at you remember it is for a good reason!

[crazymom]

Thanks so much for those uplifting quotes. I have a rubber stamp that says "when life gives you beans, make coffee." So often we get bogged down by all the little things in life, it's nice to be reminded of what's ultimately the most important - how you live the life you are given.

[mangioli]

A very Zen story. Thanks.

[kateochang]

That is a very good story and anology in describing our circle of life. Thank you for sharing. I love coffee too by the way but for health reason

[lieweheksie]

thanx tina
right story right time-

[cnsawy1@hotmail.com]

great coffee, I love it

[BaseballDad]

Hehe. those are great. Thanks.

Thanks