Phreddy posted this, and especially now – with the holidays putting even more stress on our lives – I thought this was a great reminder to refocus on the important things.
I know for myself, I’ve had to look at this a lot in the last year. Never have I been under so much financial stress and pressure at school, but also never have I been more happy and satisfied with all that I have. I have an amazing husband, stunning friends, and absolutely hillarious pets…even when I don’t know how the absolute needs will be met – they always are.
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HOT CHOCOLATE
A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were
talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups – porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite
- telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: “Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for ourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you’re drinki ng from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and
in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.
*Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people
don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate. *
