stress in work and life.

A group of successful alumni, highly established in their careers, gathered to visit their beloved old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups—porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal; some plain, some expensive, some exquisite—telling them to help themselves. When all had coffee in hand, the professor said: “Notice that all of you chose the nicest looking cups, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it's normal to desire only the best, that's also the source of your stress. The cup itself adds nothing to the quality of the coffee. Yet, subconsciously, you went for the fanciest cups.” He continued, “Life is the coffee. Jobs, money, and societal status are merely cups—tools to hold and contain life. The type of cup we have doesn't define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee." And so, the professor concluded: "Savor the coffee, not the cups. Remember, the happiest people don’t have the best of everything; they simply make the best of everything they have."