Hot Chocolate Wisdom

Subject: HOT CHOCOLATES are good, not the Containers.



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.