Life is Like a ... Pot of 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 yourselves, that is the source of your problems and
stress. The cup that you're drinking 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!