Coffee In a Cardboard Cup - That's the Trouble
I listened to a Mandy Patinkin CD the other day and one of the songs on it is called "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup." If you haven't heard the song, its message is that the trouble with the world today is that everything is "hur-hur-hurry up." Our affluent society is drinking its coffee from cardboard cups, with plastic spoons and sugar packs. The song points out that we've got "Ready Whip, instant tea, Minute Rice, My oh Me" (after all, it had to rhyme!).
Do you find this to be true in your own life? Summer - when the living is supposed to be easy - sometimes seems to be as hectic as the rest of the year, especially with kids out of school and looking for something to do. Around here (North Dakota border town 30 minutes from "The Lakes") everything pretty much shuts down by Friday noon as people are frantically getting packed and ready to head to their lake places where they can cook and clean and mow and get the dock in and clean the boat just in time to pack up the car and head back to town to start it all over again.
I spent last week commuting to a Minnesota town about 90 minutes away where I was doing some training, and had the opportunity to listen to another Wayne Dyer seminar on CD. He talked in that one about how, back in the 1800's, Thoreau decided to pack it in and moved out to Walden Pond where he could live the simple life. He wrote that it was necessary to "simplify, simplify, simplify," to which his friend and teacher Emerson replied, "I think one 'simplify' would have sufficed."
But he had it right, didn't he?
Make a pact to give yourself five minutes sometime during the day to just BE. Get up from what you're doing and look out the window. Enjoy the sun (or the moon or the rain or the wind, whatever the case may be at that moment). If you have to, set an alarm that will remind you to get up and BE just for those 5 minutes. You'll be more focused and energized if you allow YOU to be part of your day.
And next time you stop by the coffee shop for a cup on the run, consider taking a moment to really enjoy the sights and smells while you're there.
Maybe next time you'll want to experience it in a porcelain cup instead!
posted by Jodee Bock @ 9:03 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
As always Jodee, you challenge my thinking. WOW! Funny how all I use anymore are travel mugs for my coffee, and look for ways I can take more with me. HOW WRONG IS THAT?
I really need to find a nice ceramic mug. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, Phil. That's my "job" - to challenge my own thinking and then share it with you!
My favorite coffee shop always used to ask me if I wanted "paper or porecelain" (reminds me of the grocery store - "paper or plastic") but they don't ask anymore. Joel, the owner, is the one who encouraged me to drink my Dancing Goats coffee from the porcelain and it's made a world of difference.
Thanks for dropping by, Phil!! I'm going to find you a porcelain "FARGO" mug!
Jodee
Jodee,
Oh so true! I try hard not to live my life on autopilot. It is so important to stop and smell the coffee. I use mindfulness as a way to keep me in the present and enjoy the moment. However, I am guilty of drinking my Starbucks in a cardboard cup... perhaps tomorrow I will try porcelain. Thanks!
Kirsten: Thanks for adding your comment here. You and Phil have both gotten me thinking about providing porcelain cups with my logo on them for my coffee-drinking colleagues!
Jodee
Funny you should mention "when the living is supposed to be easy". I was thinking the same thing the other day as I finally got around to going for a walk/jog. The phrase brought to mind white wooden rocking chairs on big porches with lemonade and iced tea and casual conversation. I decided the reason living was easy is that they typically had staff.
Each July I become nervous that Summer is almost over and I haven't gotten to enjoy it. I have to remind myself to set priorities - what do I NEED to do vs what do I WANT to do. Then I have to correctly identify "down time" as something I NEED to do. If only my husband could see it the same way.
Gretchen:
Thanks for the wonderful visual of the white rocking chairs on the porch with the lemonade!
Here's a secret: if you decide for yourself that you want down time for yourself, and you really intend that to happen for you, your husband can't help but come along! I learned this (in my head) a long time ago, but am just starting to get the application part. It's magic!
Go watch "The Secret" (www.thesecret.tv) and you'll have lots more ideas about that easy summertime you envision!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jodee
Dear Jodee,
I was looking for the lyrics to the song, "Coffee", when I came upon your website. Today, in Sunday School Class, we were talking about how we live in an "instant" world. I believe that God has a plan for all of us. We need to take time each day to talk and listen to God. We need to let God direct our lives instead of letting our lives direct us. Whether paper or porcelain, share "a cup" with God each day.
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Thanks Linda & College! Great reminders for me, too!
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