Stories can move us and change our state of mind. That’s how powerful stories can be. Not long ago, on a day when I had started to feel overwhelmed by too many deadlines, I came across this anonymous lovely story. As soon as I read it, I saw the wisdom in it. I could immediately come back to my center, see things more clearly, from a different perspective and reconnect to what really matters.
“A group of alumni, who were very successful in their careers, decided to get together to visit their old university professor. After they all reunited, the conversation of the alumni soon turned into complaints about work, relationships 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 of his old students had a cup of coffee in hand, they sat down together and the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice-looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is, of course, normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that can also be the source of much of your dissatisfaction, problems and stress.
It’s important to know that the cup itself adds no real quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just chosen because it’s perceived to be more special or expensive. What all of you really wanted was experience of the coffee, not the cup, but you unconsciously went for the best cups. Some of you tried to get the best cup first or began eyeing each other’s cups to see if yours was nice enough.
Now consider this: Life is a bit like the cup of coffee. The jobs, money possessions and position in society are the cups. They are just tools and structures that contain or hold together the current story of your 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.
Here is my advice to you – Savor the coffee, not the cups! What you really want is to be happy and the happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.
So, live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly….and your life will be fully lived.”
Reconnecting to what is really important in our lives, removes the superfluous veil blinding our vision, and brings clarity to the essential nature of what is driving our lives: the constant search for happiness.
Karima says
This is such a poignant analogy. What it looks like is often more important to people than the substance. Making the best of what is on hand is a skill and a habit that brings contentment.
Lynda Nutt Mcintyre says
Form over function. Beauty over substance. Power over satisfaction or kindness. Pretty much explains the world right now.
Monica Jordan says
Exactly. Thank you for your insight, Lynda!!
Kristine Kaske-Martin says
“…happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”
This is so simple yet so powerful. I would pick a handmade cup to see how the potter created it. But this story is not about coffee or mugs. Find the joy, smell the smells, pet the dogs and breathe.