On the Sunday before Christmas, each member of our bishopric stood up and gave a talk. One of the counselors related this story and I had been kind of thinking what my resolution would be for this year and then after I heard this, it made it stick for me. It made such an impact on me. So I am going to share it here....
THE PARABLE OF THE HOT CHOCOLATE
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.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing that. I love reading things that will help me be a better person.
I loved that story! I've noticed that the people who are always looking for something better or something more are the miserable ones. The ones who are content with what they have in life, whether it's a lot or just a little, are the ones who are the happiest. Thanks for sharing...that one will have to go in my file.
Post a Comment