Live Simply

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were reminiscing at a reunion and decided to go visit one of their old university professors, 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 a tray with 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, "I want you to notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plainer, older and cheaper ones. While it is common for you to want only the best for yourselves -- THAT is the source of your problems and stress.



That fancy cup that you are drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate; In most cases it is just more showy or expensive -- and in some cases it even takes away from the enjoyment of 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.