Two Cups of Tea

An old man was dying. He called his two sons.

He gave each son one cup of tea.

The first cup was full to the brim, hot, shaking.

The second cup was half full, warm.

He said, "Drink."

The first son tried to drink his full cup. It burned his mouth, spilled on his clothes. He was shouting.

The second son drank his half cup slowly, finished, and said, "Thank you, Papa."

The old man said:

"My children, life is like tea. If you carry too much at once - too much anger, too much worry, too much hurry - you will burn yourself and still spill everything.

But if you carry only what you can hold, half cup, you can enjoy it."

Then he died.

The first son kept the full cup on his father's grave. Till today, it is still full, because nobody can drink from a cup that is too full.

The second son? He washed his half cup and uses it every morning.

He always leaves space.