I was following a Buddhist practice that I was reading about designed to help us learn to appreciate everybody as being helpful to us and allowing us t grow gratitude for the many people we do not know who help us to enjoy our life. I have read about this practice in 2-3 books and decided to work with it. The practice was to select one particular meal and then think through how many 'other' people it took to create the ability for me to enjoy that meal.
I selected breakfast. I do not eat anything at this hour, but I do enjoy a single cup of coffee. I initially counted 31 beings that helped create that single cup of coffee for me - and I don’t take sugar or milk, which would have added many more!
Firstly, I considered the coffee itself. Person 1 planted and grew the coffee plant. Person 2 harvested the coffee beans. Person 3 roast the beans. Person 4 ground the beans. Person 5 packaged the beans. Person 6 exported the beans. Person 7 imported the beans. Person 8 sold the beans in their store. Person 9 sold them to me at the checkout.
Secondly, I looked at the mineral water I use to add to the beans. Person 10 captured the water from a spring into a bottle. Person 11 obtained the resources to make the bottle. Person 12 made the bottle to contain the water. Person 13 transported the bottle to the store. Person 14 sold the water in their store. Person 15 sold it to me at the checkout. Person 16 was the home delivery man who took it home for me as I do not have a car.
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