"Cup of Coffee"

This is another one of "those" stories that my friend sent to me...
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A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

So, don't let the cups drive you... enjoy the coffee instead.

- Author unknown --
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When I first read, I was tempted to agree with the whole thing, however, ya, I did feel something lack of... maybe, with my own understanding about life, about work, about anything at the moment...
This story IS ideal... AND very ZEN!! :-D
however, I don't want to say I'm disagreeing (err.. because it is very true, and ideal!), but, I just wish to elaborate more, with my own understanding...

Since small... we're never really taught to know, what real "coffee" is...
and from school, from parents, even while we're already grown up and are already working.. from company, from boss... we were never told what real "coffee" is... but!!
use the right tool!!
get the right person!
get the right equipment!
get the right car!!
get the right job!!
oh!! worse still!!
get the right husband/wife!!

ya... we're never educated about "coffee", never!!
however, we're educated to great extent to identify, and the skill to 'fight' for the right "tools"!!
right?

Then... I start thinking... as for me...even getting the "right tools", the idea is not good enough...
In my opinion, life is...
the process in pursuing the right tools, and thus, achieveing the right "coffee" that you want, and you'll enjoy!!
it's the process!!

In actual fact, ya... whatever cup to use, to drink the coffee, doesn't really matter... however... ooh!! the process of browsing through that many styles of coffee cups, and then, choose one that you like, is thrill!!
It's that simple!!

The other day, I went to a cafe downtown, and as oppose to what I usually get from one of the local cafe, a nice cappucino cup, I got a mug for my coffee... Arrgghh!! just like the Starbucks mugs... no thrill... so, I thought, sometimes, the "tool" that we use, can greatly influence our mood at that very moment, and thus, influence my taste bud..
cos... food, drink, clothes, people, life... etc. are all a matter in our mind...
that's why, we have 心情好, and 心情壞!!
because it does contribute to our decision, whether the food tastes good, the drink is great, the clothes is worth buying, cos, it makes me look beautiful, that person is actually quite pretty/handsome!!
Ya... the mood!! the ambience of our hearts!!
Haha, I like the taiwanese way of describing it... the OS!! (ya, Operating System, not sure if they're still using this at present though, "OS" was used about 1 year ago? I think!!)

So, I do think, to a certain extent, "tool" matters... :-D cos, the whole world is built up in this way... that's why, it's a material world!
otherwise, I can imagine the whole world will be just like the Lazar!!!