Life

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University of Notre Dame lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

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

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer 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 better cups and are 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 should not change."

"Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it." Sometimes you need to stop on the pathway of life and learn to smell, touch, and admire the flowers beside it.

Originally posted by Halitose
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University of Notre Dame lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, some ...[text shortened]... need to stop on the pathway of life and learn to smell, touch, and admire the flowers beside it.

im a tea man only so if life is coffee ive missed out

Originally posted by Halitose
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University of Notre Dame lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, some ...[text shortened]... need to stop on the pathway of life and learn to smell, touch, and admire the flowers beside it.

Nice parable, Hal.

However, the coffee seems to taste better out of cups that are a work of art, just as chess is more enjoyable with my Reykjavik II set than with one of the less expensive plastic sets. The sensuality of a fine coffee cup or a well-crafted chess piece seems almost symbiotic with the quality of the nectar or the effectiveness of the play.

What is life, if it is not what we do most of the time, that is our jobs? Is it football, beer, Fritos, and RHP?

Originally posted by Wulebgr
Nice parable, Hal.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
I know. It's a shame people are already ripping it off from Hal.

http://www.txt2nite.com/forum/archive/something-to-think-about-420.htm

I suppose those people have no shame for plagiarizing. Hal, forgive them, as I'm sure you will.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
I know. It's a shame people are already ripping it off from Hal.

http://www.txt2nite.com/forum/archive/something-to-think-about-420.htm

I suppose those people have no shame for plagiarizing. Hal, forgive them, as I'm sure you will.

This fails to be a Nash equilibrium.

If everybody wants their coffee in the crappy cups, well hell, I may as well take those nice cups home with me.

Originally posted by Halitose
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University of Notre Dame lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, some ...[text shortened]... need to stop on the pathway of life and learn to smell, touch, and admire the flowers beside it.