The Wisdom of "Hot Chocolate"

I wish I could take credit for the following, but a friend emailed this to me, and I just loved the wisdom in it, and felt like I should share it. The author is unknown.


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 others 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.

Just what I needed.....another reminder that God uses cracked pots!

Urodynamics and other new torture devices.......

So, one thing about living with fibromyalgia.....heretofore will be referred to as the Great Fibro Monster..........one has to wonder why they are allowed to suffer in such a way. I believe that I was given this great journey so that I could grow through my suffering and others might learn and grow through me. That doesn't mean however; that I am enjoying my experience. There are many things that the great fibro monster brings.......sleeplessness, joint and muscle and soft tissue pain......irritable bowel syndrome.........cognitive delays.......stiffness......constant headaches......dry skin, dry mouth, dry hair.......and now.....IC.....so, today I got to go and have someone shove things into all my lower orifices and measure everything on a computer...it was both painful and humiliating......yet another fantastic side effect to the great fibro monster. My point in telling this....is because, as I sat feeling sorry for myself in the bathtub this evening, cramping and aching.....wishing that I wasn't so tired and so achy.....I have to remind myself of the suffering Jesus went through for me......that he never promised us that life would be easy and of the joy I will one day be privy to..........just wish I didn't have to suffer so long to get there......but ohhhhh how much sweeter it will be when I finally see his face.

The Compassionate Idiot........

Many may look at the name of this blog and wonder what is wrong with me. I feel that I am a compassionate idiot. I am someone to whom compassion comes easily, in general. I feel like I always need to put myself in the other persons shoes, and try to understand where they are coming from. I'm also the kind of person that being a idiot comes easy to. I am an idiot who relies on "discernment" and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.......unfortuantely ....as an idiot....I have this knack for getting in my own way and messing things up. This blog is about the profound things that I learn.