A Thing About Life

A Cup of Coffee
>
> A group of alumni, highly established in
their
> careers, got together to visit their old
University
> of Notre Dame lecturer. Conversation soon
turned
> into complaints about stress in work and
life.
>
> Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went
to the
> kitchen and returned with a large pot of
coffee and
> an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic,
glass,
> some plain-looking and some expensive and
exquisite,
> telling them to help themselves to hot
coffee.
>
> When all the students had a cup of coffee in
hand,
> the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the
> nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up,
leaving
> behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is
but
> normal for you to want only the best for
yourselves,
> that is the source of your problems and
stress. What
> all of you really wanted was coffee, not the
cup,
> but you consciously went for the better cups
and are
> eyeing each other's cups."
>
>
> "Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money
and
> position in society are the cups. They are
just
> tools to hold and contain Life, but the
quality of
> Life doesn't change."
>
> "Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup,
we
> fail to enjoy the coffee in it."