Hot Chocolate
A group of graduates, well established in their
careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go
visit their old university professor, now retired.
During their visit, the conversation turned to
complaints about stress in their work and lives.
Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went
into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot
chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain,
glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive,
some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to
the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the
professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking,
expensive cups were taken, 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.
The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the
quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just
more expensive and in some cases even hides what we
drink.
What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, 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 hot chocolate; your
job, money and position in society are the cups. They
are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you
have does not define, nor change the quality of life
you have.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail
to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God
makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The
happiest people don't have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak
kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.
A group of graduates, well established in their
careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go
visit their old university professor, now retired.
During their visit, the conversation turned to
complaints about stress in their work and lives.
Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went
into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot
chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain,
glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive,
some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to
the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the
professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking,
expensive cups were taken, 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.
The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the
quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just
more expensive and in some cases even hides what we
drink.
What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, 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 hot chocolate; your
job, money and position in society are the cups. They
are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you
have does not define, nor change the quality of life
you have.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail
to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God
makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The
happiest people don't have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak
kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.
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