It's August already!
Time is flying by... I think, but relative to what? I don't know.
I came across the following entry in a random woman's blog just now and thought it interesting:
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The 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, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
After 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 but 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’s 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 began eyeing each other's cups.
“Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and 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 God has provided us."
God brews the coffee, not the cups . . . enjoy your coffee.
And this was the blogger's response to the story:
I just can't agree with this analogy. “The cup” is an integral part of “coffee” It is not just a form of conveyance. First of all if you remove "the jobs, money and position in society" what is left for "Life" to encompass? Sure your loved ones, sunsets, and existence. But if you have a job you hate, if you are destitute, if you are part of the unheard masses it changes the quality of life and no beautiful moment can make it all go away.
Haven’t you found the quality of coffee in a tin, styrofoam or even silver cup is tainted?
An inadequate cup can lessen the quality of what's inside. Perhaps I am naive and have been tainted by our capitalist society.
I'm not sure what my full response is to the story, but I do agree that the cup *does* make a difference-in fact most of the differences between people can be reduced/eliminated by giving them equal finances. If you're poor then you are only going to have a certain amount of opportunity because you will have to expend more energy on basic necessities like food and shelter whereas if you are rich then you can remove a lot of day to day time consumers (e.g. drop laundry off at a dry cleaners or laundromat or even hiring a maid instead of washing it yourself) I don't even like coffee but if I were to choose what cup I would want to drink out of it would be my over-sized "Eeyore" mug that says "do not attempt to cheer up" I love that mug and use it whenever I make hot chocolate and only hand wash it so it won't get chipped.
I came across the following entry in a random woman's blog just now and thought it interesting:
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The 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, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
After 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 but 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’s 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 began eyeing each other's cups.
“Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and 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 God has provided us."
God brews the coffee, not the cups . . . enjoy your coffee.
And this was the blogger's response to the story:
I just can't agree with this analogy. “The cup” is an integral part of “coffee” It is not just a form of conveyance. First of all if you remove "the jobs, money and position in society" what is left for "Life" to encompass? Sure your loved ones, sunsets, and existence. But if you have a job you hate, if you are destitute, if you are part of the unheard masses it changes the quality of life and no beautiful moment can make it all go away.
Haven’t you found the quality of coffee in a tin, styrofoam or even silver cup is tainted?
An inadequate cup can lessen the quality of what's inside. Perhaps I am naive and have been tainted by our capitalist society.
I'm not sure what my full response is to the story, but I do agree that the cup *does* make a difference-in fact most of the differences between people can be reduced/eliminated by giving them equal finances. If you're poor then you are only going to have a certain amount of opportunity because you will have to expend more energy on basic necessities like food and shelter whereas if you are rich then you can remove a lot of day to day time consumers (e.g. drop laundry off at a dry cleaners or laundromat or even hiring a maid instead of washing it yourself) I don't even like coffee but if I were to choose what cup I would want to drink out of it would be my over-sized "Eeyore" mug that says "do not attempt to cheer up" I love that mug and use it whenever I make hot chocolate and only hand wash it so it won't get chipped.