As I was going through my photos while enjoying a cup of coffee, I saw this photo, “The Cup Story”, that I took in Seoul. This photo reminds me of a famous quote by an unknown author – “Life is like a cup of coffee”.
This quote has a story that accompanies it. The story is about the conversation between a Professor and his former students who gathered at the Professor’s home after stepping into the corporate world for many years.
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 guest 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 the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been 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.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, 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 coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups!
The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Naturally, we would gravitate towards what is visually appealing to us whether an object or person. This is why many of us, including myself, would spend our hard earned money on luxury goods like handbags, shoes, clothes, watches and jewellery. For some, they spent on flashy sports cars.
Did all these luxury goods improve my quality of life? Honestly, no. I experienced joy at the point when I bought them and a little joy when I use or wear them but that joy fades away quickly. I kept buying to experience that initial joy. In order to fulfil that want, I spent more time at work. Needless to say, my quality of life did not get better.
In fact the more stuff I own, the more the stuff own me. The stuff I own distracted me from living my life. I spent my time finding space to store and maintain them. Now I am spending my time to sell them. If only I did not buy them, I could use the money to reduce my mortgage loan.
Then, I discover what is true value and happiness to me. It is the experiences that I can relive like doing things I enjoy, travelling and exploring the city I live in, to gain a new perspective. Not forgetting, spending time with my loved ones. Many a time, it is the simple things in life that matter the most.
This reminds me of the response from one of my former managers when I asked him what motivates him to be so discipline in going for regular exercises and workouts in his busy schedule. His response was so that he would still be strong and healthy to go travelling, hiking and skiing with his children when they grow up.
What is of true value to you? What makes your life great and meaningful? Add that to the existing content in the cup of your life. Remove what distracts you from living your life.
Life is like a cup of coffee – Live simply, make the best of everything, spend more time with loved ones, give back, enjoy the beauty of nature, explore the city you live in and see the world.
Thank you for stopping by, happy Living for Experiences!
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Living for Experiences 
Awesome story!
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Reblogged this on LifeBlog and commented:
When I read this story about the old and nice professor and his old students, this is the story learned (American spelling): The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. “Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups!”
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What a great story! I love the way the lesson learned is brought out, “The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.” Thanks for posting this, I think I think I need to reblog this!
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Beginning the quest for the perfect cup of cappuccino. Please let us know what you think. Please see: https://columntribe.wordpress.com/2017/07/26/from-the-heart-of-a-cappuccino-lover/
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Great story! Thanks for sharing.
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Beautiful post. Yes it is true that the materialistic things can give us transient satisfaction yet the joy, contentment and peace felt by the non materialistic things is what matters the most. For me, spending time with my family and friends give me the ultimate happiness and contentment. Beyond this, exploring new places and pursing my hobby. ☺
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I love this! A wonderful post.
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Thank you 🙂
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It’s really very awesome…
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Amazing post.
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Thank you 😊
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Loved this post! Great reminders.
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I always enjoy my coffee and seldom notice the cup … great story thanks for sharing
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Good story, I believe I am going in the right path :-).
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life is cup, life is struggle life is a sacrifice , life is a fun. People have different views about life. But your views touched me. .
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Oh dear, Audrey, I don’t know who you are exactly but this post-actually, the great post-remind me to keep living as simple as I always want. I’m a coffee drinker and every cup of coffee is always a new contemplation I have, that’s why I love coffee and what makes me feel so close to this post.
Enjoy your day. xx
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Glad you find the post helpful 😊
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Glad you enjoyed the post. I am also a coffee drinker. 😀
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We maintain our stance.
And that is, one cannot bring all the world’s accumulated material possessions with us when we are about to expire.
Only memories remain. We want them to be damn good memories of the times we spent with each other, family and friends. And we want our family and friends to have those memories too.
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A great story, Audrey. And the problem with relying on stuff and material to bring us joy is that what we have is never enough, we always want more.
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Yes, and that’s the challenge that all of us face till we realize that having excess stuff is not adding value to our life as we just use what are essential to us. I too still have some excess stuff even after reducing my stuff by half.
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Yes, it’s not what we have, it’s who we are and how we live our lives.
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Yes, you have nicely summarized it. 👍🏻😀
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Thank you Audrey! A story I hadn’t heard before and worth repeating – even by a tea-drinker! Meg
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Meg, thank you for stopping by and pleasure is mind 😇Glad you like the story and found it meaningful. – Audrey
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