I’ve “seen” people every day when working at NHCL, and didn’t know if I wanted to get to know them because I wasn’t attracted to the way they looked. I got to “know” them and found them to be good people. From this, I learned that one should not judge a book by its cover. Some of the best “book covers” don’t have a story inside worth telling. It is best to engage with everyone before deciding how to view the person as a whole.

I copied this from a Facebook post as a prime example.

At a High School Reunion, a group of successful alumni—now doctors, lawyers, business owners—decided to visit their favorite teacher. They chatted about their careers and families, but soon the conversation shifted to life’s pressures, stress, and constant chasing after more.

After listening for a while, their teacher smiled and said, “Hold on a minute. I’ll go make us some coffee.”

He came back with a large pot and a tray full of cups—none of them matching. Some were fine porcelain, others were plain ceramic, a few were chipped glass mugs, and one even looked like it came from a diner.

As everyone reached for a cup, the professor watched in silence. Once they all had coffee in hand, he said:

“Notice what just happened. Most of you instinctively reached for the nicest cups—leaving behind the simpler ones. It’s normal to want the best for ourselves, but that’s often where the stress begins.”

He gestured toward the cups.

“The cup doesn’t make the coffee taste any better. What you really wanted was the coffee. But you still focused on the cup.”

Then he paused.

“Life is the coffee. Your job, your house, your income, your status—those are just cups. They help contain life, but they don’t define it. And the trouble is, the more we focus on the cup, the more we miss out on the coffee.”

He smiled.

“Remember, happy people don’t always have the best of everything. But they know how to make the best of what they have.