A motivational speaker had a table with a coffee urn and cups. Some of the cups were exquisite and expensive and others were plain. After an hour into his presentation, he announced a ten minute break and invited the participants to enjoy a cup of coffee.
When the break was over and the participants were back in their seats, the speaker looked at them thoughtfully and then went over to the coffee table. He looked at the table and observed that all the expensive cups were taken but none of the plain ones. He said while it is normal to want the best for yourself, this is the source of your problems.
He continued, “The cup adds no quality to the coffee. It’s just more expensive and even over shadows the quality of the coffee because by focusing on the cup we fail to enjoy the coffee. A good life is one where you savor the coffee, not the cup. The lesson is the richest is not the one who has the most, but who needs the least.”
Michael Michalko is the highly-acclaimed author of Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative Thinking Techniques; Cracking Creativity: The Thinking Strategies of Creative Geniuses; Thinkpak: A Brainstorming Card Deck, and Creative Thinkering: Putting Your Imagination to Work.
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