Care for your coffee?
This is a story I loved the very first time i read it,so relevant to our lives today!!
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 hot 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 each of 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 best cups and were 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. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail
to enjoy the coffee in it."
So, don't let the cups drive you... enjoy the coffee instead.
Wat say?
posted by Unknown @ 6:39 AM
23 Comments:
I have read this before and always felt it as the one of the apt stories for the current fast-paced life :-).
Nice one. You write very well and its thought provoking. Good job!
Isn't it Karthik? It is quite a popular story & it fit so well that i decided to put it up.
Welcome aboard Sattvic!
this is so true, no matter what the cup the coffee tastes the same. So deep, yet so simply said.
Hi Rashmi,
Right on, makes a lot of sense. I think the main issue is one of introspection and honesty. What are our priorities? What do we need? What truly makes us happy? Once we realize those things, life becomes much simpler and more enjoyable.
Ram
well in a way right....
But think of it this way...
what if one of the cups were paper or if another was a low grade plastic...that cannot stand the heat..
Destination matters..but so does the way u take..:-)
aaha... arputham!!
true.. we live in a very "looks-conscious/looks-oriented" society.. unfortunate..
Nice story :)
though being true it is also a fact tht we wont or cant change our outlook towards life... we will prefer the cups to be clean n expensive no matter how the coffee tastes
Good one!
Keshi.
yes Thanu, I loved it the very first time i read it!
Hey Ram... This kind of introspection from time to time makes us realise our priorities and makes us get things in order right?
Yes Vanathi.. I think the story is well written.
Well Ginkgo, the path definitely matters! the idea however is not to ignore the path completly nor ignor ethe coffee, a definite balance ... can work wonders!
Rashmi.
Thanx KC! Ennodda story illai athanal no credits taken!
Sad but true EB! can't we trigger off a change?
True gangadhar ....I loved it too!
But Sudeep... Can we not make a conscious attempt to change? it may be difficult initially .... but not impossible!!
Hey Keshi.... Thanx!
Rashmi.
Hi Rashmi:
Thanks for stopping by at my blog and thanks for the wishes too. Waiting for your next post!
So, don't let the cups drive you... enjoy the coffee instead.
Nice One..I totally agree with you here....
hey where's my comment gone?? I posted one long time back!!:(
neway, true....I agree with u, sumtimes we place a lot of importance on the external factors, on things like our job and frnds etc, and in tht process we fail to enjoy life...but wait, let's see it from another perspective, won't the experince of having coffee change if we have it in dirty, broken, unclean, cheap, plastic cups??? won't you enjoy ur coffee more if you had it in a lovely handpainted clean porcelain cup??...I am sure we all would, the coffee will taste the same, but the cup will only enrich the exp...but ofcourse it finally boils down to "life"
nice story:)
good one... :-)
Well that’s true that; what matters the most is the quality of life you live and that’s not dependent on Money, Job and Position. But don’t you think that these things spice up your life? Just imagine life of a person who has no stress and has an easy going life…I will definitely no go for it…that’s too boring. Position, Money, Job does matters…but as it is said…theres limit to everything.
Loved the story!
yeah.. really a thought provoking one.. does make one think whether the life they r leading is worthy the way its lived..
Oops, thank you for this cute story.
Yes! arz000n, i found it apt for today's life of ours.
Yashita the idea is we need to stop somewhere & try & find our balance ...once we check out our priorities.
Hey Sowmya! long time no see!!!
True Abhishek!But sometimes we concentrate so much on the spice itself that we forget to enjoy the curry fully!
Welcome Vinesh!
Yes Prasad! Life is all about balances!
Always welcome Swahilya!!
a simple enough story we've all heard before, if only we as people weren't so complicated! all the gurus and wise books say 'keep it simple, its so easy'. but we just don't let things be.
yes the coffee brewed at one shot and poured in different cups is the same coffee out of the kettle. but does it really taste the same? every coffee drinker has his/her own views/tastes in the way they like their coffee. so too with life. people's lives are not necessarily the same, then again, the larger issues are more or less the same. but its the way in which these are dealt with that is different. tastes/attitudes differ! sorry abt this comment being almost as long as a post and for rambling on your space! :)
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