How to Make Sure Your Cup Is Full
From farm to cup, growing coffee beans requires patience. The farmer must know how much water, sunlight, nutrients, and air its trees need to thrive. At times, a farmer may tend to a coffee tree for 3-4 years before it produces fruit. It’s okay for some trees to take a longer time. But the farmer who wants to produce a high quality harvest to sell to the market today at premium prices must execute a strategy that fuels her intention to produce a quality bean. She must exercise patience, and craft, to allow the tree to time produce. Each tree must be cultivated so that it’s prepared to grow fruit (called cherries) that will ripen, turn bright red in about 3 to 6 months - it’s call to the farmer to, “Pick me!.” Unripened cherries will produce a bitter taste and find their way into lower quality coffees and other caffeine products. There are routine steps that all farmers must take, but if she can tend to the trees under just the right conditions, the cherries will ripen right on time. Growing and harvesting quality coffee is not only a method but a craft fueled by intention to create a delicious cup. The pay then follows.
““The more you learn, the more you earn.””
When it comes to life, our “method” is the mechanical component of making decisions. Just like coffee trees require basic growing conditions, we grow by obtaining an education to become skilled to perform certain jobs. We apply for that certain job, obtain another degree, apply for a higher level job and so on. We know that education and training is professional development that leads to growth. For the most part, this method is tried and true. But like the coffee farmer, cultivation requires a special touch which means creating the proper conditions in your own life under which you, like the tree, can thrive. The strategy and intention behind the decision to produce a full cup is where craft comes in, and without craft the bean, and your life itself, will lack flavor.
The First Step to Ensuring Your Cup Is Full
Answer these questions: Where do you want to be? What do you want to experience? What do you intend to do? The hardest part is to decide. Our lives require the intention to enjoy a full cup but there are many different ways to make your cup full. Which way will you choose? It doesn’t have to be a permanent call. Think about what you’d like to experience over the next five years. Once we commit to that intention, intention directs our attention like fuel for the soul. Intention is ultimately executed upon with craft, taking us to where we want to be. What is your intention? What is your strategy to develop your craft? Remember, the tree doesn’t produce fruit immediately. What do you need to learn to begin producing new fruit? Give yourself time. And don’t always go for the money first.
