Cups of coffee (Modern parable)

A group of successful graduates from reputable schools, who have made a remarkable career, came to visit their old professor. During the visit, the conversation was switched off to their work: graduates were complaining about numerous difficulties and life problems.

Professor offered coffee to his guests, then went to a kitchen and returned with a coffee pot and a tray, which was laden with all kinds of cups made of porcelain, glass, plastic, and crystal. Ones were simple, while the others were expensive.

When the graduates took the cups, the professor said:

‘Have you noticed that you took all the beautiful cups and left the simple and cheap ones? And though it is normal for you to want only the best for yourself, it is also the source of your problems and stresses. Please understand that a cup itself doesn’t make coffee better. Usually, it’s just more expensive, but sometimes it even hides what we’re drinking. In fact, everything you wanted was just coffee, not a cup. But you intentionally chose the better cups and then you were watching who got this or that cup.’

And now think: life is coffee, while work, money, position, and society are the cups. These are only the instruments to support and maintain your life. The cup we have does not define and change the quality of our lives. Sometimes, when concentrating only on a cup, we forget to enjoy the taste of coffee itself.

The happiest people are not those who have everything the best, but those who take full advantage of things they have.