The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and in life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of cups -- plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, some fine -- telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, 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." "What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups." "Now consider this: Life is the coffee and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and do not change the quality of life. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. So, don't let the cups drive you... enjoy the coffee instead." Why did the conversation soon turn into complaints?
Because there was no coffee to drink. Because there was nothing to talk about except complaints. Because life was not easy for everyone. Because there was nothing better than to complain.