THE TEA CUP STORY

One day, an elderly couple traveling in England, enter an antique shop to buy something nice for their 25th wedding anniversary. The woman's attention was immediately drawn to a beautiful teacup and she asked the shopkeeper to show it to her. Only the teacup was more special than the woman had imagined: he started talking, to the surprise of both of them, he said:

But I wasn't a teacup from the start. A long time ago I was just a lump of red clay with no particular purpose. Then a potter saw me, took me and kept beating me, kept kneading me, kept rolling me, while I cried: Let me go, it hurts! I don't like it, don't do that! But the potter said: Not yet!

And it didn't end there: he put me on a wheel and spun me, spun me, spun me over and over, I was dizzy until I was sick! And again I said: Stop it, I'm dizzy, I feel sick! But the potter, quietly, said: Not yet!

Then again he kneaded me, kicked me, threw me and moulded me into the shape he wanted. And he put me in a hot oven, it was so hot, I felt like I couldn't stand it! I wanted to get out of the oven, I kicked the door, I kept screaming desperately, I begged him in tears: Get me out of here, please, I can't! But the potter said again: Not yet!

And just when I thought I was going to die of pain in that kiln, the door opened and the potter pulled me out. He carefully placed me on a shelf and I began to cool off. It felt so good, the ordeal was finally over, I thought to myself.

But it wasn't over: he picked me up again, brushed me, coloured me with all sorts of paints - it smelled awful, I was sick. I screamed: Let me go, please, have pity on me, I can't! But the potter said: Not yet!

And you think my ordeal is over here? No, he threw me in the oven again, only this time it was twice as hot! And again I begged him with tears in my eyes: Please, get me out of here, I can't! That time I thought I'd never get away, it was that bad. But just as I was about to give up, the potter pulled me out, put me back on the shelf and I started to cool down, to feel good.

But I thought I wasn't getting off that easy, what was he going to do to me next? After a while, he showed me a mirror and said: Look, that's you!

I looked in the mirror and exclaimed: That can't be me! She's so beautiful! I'm so beautiful!

And then the potter said to me: I know you've suffered and cried and ached when you've been kneaded, rolled and kicked, but if you'd stayed a lump of clay you'd have dried up. I know you got dizzy bad when I spun you on the wheel, but if I'd stopped, you'd have broken into pieces. I know it hurt and it was hot in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you'd have cracked. I know you got sick from the smell of the dyes, but if I hadn't brushed you and colored you all over, you wouldn't have really browned and you wouldn't have the shine you have now that everyone will see. And if I hadn't put you in the oven a second time, you wouldn't have survived. Now you're whole and strong and beautiful.

You've probably figured out by now what the moral of this story is: when it seems like life is hitting you, knocking you around, throwing you from side to side and you're suffering beyond your strength, it's actually strengthening you, so that you can become a stronger person and shine in the world as much as you can, more than you think you can.

So, next time you encounter moments like this, make yourself a cup of tea, drink it from the loveliest cup and think about this story.