Coffee or Cup ?

I got the below article as a forward from a friend..... it is said that the biggest truths often come in the simplest forms..... like Einsteins E=mc2. Just read on..... and do ponder over it..... Keep It Simple Stupid, is a golden rule that unfailingly works.

"The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect."

A group of graduates, 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 the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the simple 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. 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 on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. Enjoy your coffee!"

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
· Leave the rest to God.

You are the miracle, my friend; your life either shines a light or casts a shadow!

Shine a light and enjoy the coffee.

Leap - and have faith

Life is full of choices. And ever so often, we land up at a decision fork..... and rarely, are the choices very obvious. I remember reading somewhere in MBA school about the concept of limited knowledge. A manager at any given point never has the universe of data to enable him to take the "perfectly right" decision. Thats pretty much true for everyone in life situations too. How then do we arrive on the "right decision" ?..... Just think about it - what is a "right decision" ? Like its said about the butterfly effect, a small change in starting conditions can result in wildly different endpoint conditions - but as humans, how should we know what the different end points could be ? I really don't think there can be a "right" decision. At a given point in time, using the mix of emotions, circumstances and all knowledge we have - we can only take our best shot. But having done that, there is only one way to make the decision - "right". And that is by passionately, obsessively and fanatically believing - that the path we have chosen is THE right path. Enough freedom fighters believing like this, bought us independence. A handful of scientists believing in this, put man on the moon. Ultimately, I think - every decision is really - a leap of faith, backed by an unquestioning mind.

What is it that really matters ?
To do interesting things or,
To do important things ?

Which path is it that is right ?
The one leading through the heart or,
The one lighted up by the mind ?

Whats the greater good to follow ?
Individual thought & wish or,
The collective wisdom of people around ?

Dare we turn left ?
Where we have been told to turn right ?
Or should we continue straight ahead instead ?

This or That ?
Which road to take ?
It really doesn't matter, I think,
Beyond the point of the fork in the road.

To take any of the roads - and then move on,
To believe, to be obsessed and lost to the world,
To back the faith with toil and love,
And to see just one road beyond the fork.

That I believe is the right way to go.