A cup of coffee | Life Series

A quick read while you are savouring your favourite coffee.

Read time: less than 1 min.

One Saturday evening, a group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together with their favourite university professor.

The conversation started about their individual successes and achievements, their positions, networth and their exclusive addresses. The conversation turned to heat up as each of them began to compete among themselves on their successful journey. Each proving to be more successful than the others.

And through the conversation, they inadvertently revealed how busy their lives have become, the long hours they have dedicated to their success and of course, the stress in their work and lives, completely oblivious that their story of achievement had turned into complaints. Their successes now appeared pale in comparison to the sacrifices that each of them made to get where they were.

To change the mood, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of fresh hot coffee and an assortment of cups. Some porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, and asked the students to help themselves.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor pointed out that all the beautiful looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. He explained that while it is normal for them to want only the best for themselves, those same blessings could turn into a curse and the source of their problems and stress if the means to an end becomes the end in itself.

The cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases, even hides what we drink. What all of us want is to enjoy the coffee, not the cup, but like those students, we consciously go for the best cups and strangely also envy each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just means to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have or don’t does not define, nor change the quality of our lives. Sometimes, by focusing only on the kind of cup we have, or don’t, we fail to enjoy the coffee.

The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.

I hope your weekend has been going well so far. I’m also feeling particularly grateful to have you reading. Thank you for sharing some of your precious time with me each week.

Don’t focus on the cup; enjoy your coffee.

So long, until next week.

Razak
CommonInterest