You Don’t Have to Finish the Day Before Breakfast

September 25, 2026September 21, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

The day may arrive all at once, but we can only live it one moment at a time. Begin with the coffee, take the next good step, and let the rest of the morning wait its turn.

September 25, 2026

###

There are mornings when I wake up already behind.

I haven’t even placed my feet on the floor, yet my mind is standing beside the bed with a clipboard.

There are messages to answer, bills to remember, appointments to keep, stories to write, and several little things I promised myself I would do yesterday. Before I have poured my first cup of coffee, my brain has scheduled enough work to exhaust three people—and at least one of them should be younger than I am.

Traveler beside numbers 1 through 7; sign reads, “A stubborn sunrise is better than not having any at all.” — J_{^{ust start counting the stress away 1…2…3…4…}}

That is the trouble with mornings. The day arrives all at once, even though we can only live it one moment at a time.

Coffee understands this.

It doesn’t leap from the container into the cup fully prepared. The water must heat. The grounds must be measured. The coffee must brew. Then comes the cream, sugar, or whatever little ceremony makes the cup your own.

Nobody stands beside the coffee maker shouting, “Hurry up! We have an entire day to finish!”

Well, perhaps somebody does. But that person should probably be sent back to bed.

Coffee takes the time coffee takes.

Maybe we should grant ourselves the same kindness.

We do not have to solve every problem before breakfast. We do not have to know how the entire day will unfold. We don’t even have to feel particularly enthusiastic about it. Sometimes our first accomplishment is simply getting out of bed. The next may be finding our glasses and remembering why we walked into the kitchen.

Progress is still progress, even when it arrives wearing slippers.

I have discovered that a day becomes much less intimidating when I stop carrying all twenty-four hours at once. I only need to carry this moment.

Drink the coffee.

Answer one message.

Make one decision.

Do the next decent thing.

Then do another.

Some days will still become tangled. Plans will change. Someone will call just as we sit down. Something we carefully placed where we would remember it will disappear into that mysterious dimension occupied by missing socks, reading glasses, and important pieces of paper.

That does not mean the day has been lost.

There is still time to do some Fall Cleaning. Remember -– This is the first week of Autumn and Fall cleaning is not only for closets and cupboards. Sometimes our memories need to be taken down, dusted off, and placed where we can see them again.

A good day does not have to be a perfect day. It only needs a few honest moments: a kindness offered, a responsibility met, a laugh we didn’t expect, or the decision to begin again after something went wrong.

So, if this morning already feels too heavy, set part of it down.

You were never expected to carry the entire day before breakfast.

Begin with the coffee. Let it warm your hands. Take a breath and allow the world to turn without your supervision for a minute or two.

The day will still be waiting.

But perhaps, after that first cup, it won’t look quite so large.

Go ahead get a another cup, and enjoy your morning!

Are you exhausted before your feet even reach the floor? Today’s Morning Coffee is a reminder that you don’t have to carry all twenty-four hours at once—and progress still counts when it arrives wearing slippers.

☕ Morning Coffee ––– Look How Far You’ve Come

August 26, 2026August 20, 2026Benjamin1 Comment

We spend so much time looking at how far we have left to go that we sometimes forget the miles already behind us. This morning’s coffee is a reminder to turn around occasionally and appreciate just how far you’ve come.

August 26, 2026

Most mornings, we look ahead.

a person holding a plastic cup with drinking straw — _{^{Photo by Czapp Árpád on Pexels.com}}

We think about what needs to be done today, what is waiting for us tomorrow, and where we hope to be sometime down the road.

We don’t often turn around and look behind us.

Maybe we should.

There are roads you’ve already traveled that once frightened you.

There were problems you were certain you couldn’t solve.

There were nights you wondered how you would make it until morning.

There were changes you didn’t ask for, goodbyes you weren’t ready to say, and circumstances you never imagined would become part of your story.

Yet here you are.

Coffee in hand.

Another morning.

Still going.

We have a habit of measuring ourselves by how far we have left to go instead of recognizing how far we have already come.

It’s a little like climbing a hill while staring only at the top.

Every step reminds you that you aren’t there yet.

But turn around for a moment.

Look at the distance behind you.

Suddenly, those little steps don’t seem so little anymore.

Life is like that.

Growth rarely announces itself while it’s happening.

We simply get up each morning and keep going.

We learn.

We adjust.

We stumble.

We get back up.

And somewhere along the way, without realizing it, we become stronger than the person who first started down the road.

Maybe you’re not where you hoped you would be by now.

That’s all right.

Perhaps there are things you still want to accomplish, relationships you want to mend, places you want to see, or pieces of yourself you’re still trying to understand.

Keep going.

But every once in a while, turn around.

Remember the things you’ve survived.

Remember the lessons you’ve learned.

Remember the people you’ve loved and the people who loved you along the way.

Give yourself credit for the miles already traveled.

You earned every one of them.

Sometimes we need to stop asking, “How much farther?” and take a moment to say, “Look how far I’ve come.”

So this morning, before you hurry toward whatever is waiting ahead, sit with your coffee for another minute.

Look back down the road.

That person standing there in your memories had no idea whether they would make it this far.

But they did.

You did.

And today, the road continues.

Now, let’s have another cup before we get moving.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

How a Talking Box Changed a Village Forever

September 10, 2025August 22, 2025BenjaminLeave a comment

2–3 minutes

The Man Who Brought the Talking Box

Long ago, in a village nestled between mountains and rivers, the people lived simple lives. They farmed, fished, and told stories by firelight. The outside world was a distant rumor; progress had passed them by like a river running around a stone.

One day, a man arrived carrying a strange box. He called it a television. The villagers had never heard such a word. When he told them it would show pictures that talked, they laughed and shook their heads. “You are a fool,” they said. “Only dreams speak, not boxes.”

But the man was prepared. He produced a car battery and some wires. With a flicker of static, light and sound filled the screen. A newsreader from a city hundreds of miles away appeared, his voice echoing across the quiet square. The villagers gasped. They fell to their knees. They did not see a machine—they saw a miracle. To them, this man had called forth visions from the air. He was no salesman. He was a god.

They showered him with gifts: food, gold, comforts he had never imagined. Women sang songs to him, elders bowed in reverence, and children followed him as though he were a prophet. The man, intoxicated by their devotion, stopped trying to sell televisions. Why would he? To share the secret would be to share his power. Instead, he worked to suppress progress, warning of curses should other machines arrive. If anyone else brought innovation to the village, his godhood would vanish.

But gods made of flesh will not stand forever. One day, another traveler arrived, carrying a radio. The villagers gathered again. They looked at the newcomer in awe. Their awe was just like when they revered their god of the television. Voices once poured from the box without wires or pictures. In that instant, the spell broke. The villagers realized the man was no deity, only a trickster who had hoarded knowledge.

The gifts stopped. The songs ended. He was left alone with his machine, just another man in a world where progress is not be-dammed forever.