There has been post on here that actually go wild over the cost of a new rod.
This topic has been up and down every time it is brought up. A friend sent me this letter and I thought that this is so appropriate for this topic I wanted to share it if I may.


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 the 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.


Live simply. Love generously.
Care deeply. Speak kindly.
And, enjoy your hot chocolate.