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Cup of coffee

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This is a chapter from my latest book called Breezes of Tobago.

The cool morning breeze blew the hat off the tourist passing the coffee shop. We sat at the table waiting for our order of coffee and bagels. I had stayed up late writing and was now needing caffeine to stay awake. On entering the veranda of the coffee shop, the sign reads "happiness is a cup of coffee" and "sip your troubles away". This had me thinking about what is happiness? And was the theme of my chat with Chatty as we enjoyed our breakfast in Tobago.

I told my friend Chatty that if we could put happiness in a bottle and sell it we would be rich. My friend Chatty then told me that money cannot buy happiness but it was a good idea to make a living. If according to the sign, happiness is a cup of coffee then maybe happiness is coffee in a bottle then. We could call it Caffibean, a taste of the Caribbean in Tobago, a blend of the happiest coffee beans from Tobago. Tobago is not known for its coffee production but nothing is stopping us from exploring the possibility.

Our coffee arrived first. We sipped on our coffee as we watched the people passing by. The smell of coffee getting to everyone's noses as they passed by. Soon our two bagels arrived. This reminded me that I had once heard someone online refer to the country as Trinidad and Two bagels. I do not know when this meme started but it has been funny ever since to me. As I chatted with my friend Chatty about happiness, I tried to list some local examples of what happiness is.

Happiness is like eating a mango in someone's backyard; Liming on the side of the road after the bus shutdown on its way to Charlotteville; The smile of tanty Merle at the fruit shed; Being chased by a stray chicken on the way to the beach; Finding out that bathing in the Nylon pool makes you ten years younger; Using a fig leaf to shelter from the rain; When uncle Clive from Moriah says God bless you after you help him carry his market bag to his car; Drinking cocoa tea from an enamel cup. It is the little things you know. The everyday things. The simple things.

I told my friend Chatty that we should not forget God in the happiness equation. My friend Chatty would nod thoughtfully and say that true happiness feels incomplete without God at its center—that gratitude, purpose, and joy flow more deeply when we recognize His presence in the little blessings, the shared moments, and even this simple cup of coffee, because happiness is not just felt, it is given. In that sense, happiness is a gift from God, and also something we pass on to others by how we live. We receive joy in moments, but it becomes deeper and more lasting when we share it—through kindness, gratitude, faith, and love.

The coffee shop had a book shelf with some magazines and books and even free maps of Tobago. I went to grab a map and noticed there was that book again. Breezes of Tobago. I asked the coffee shop owner to borrow the book for the duration of my stay in Tobago as I was staying right around the corner and would return it before I leave for Trinidad. He said I could keep it as he could easily get another copy. I now had a map of Tobago and I joked with my friend Chatty that I could go looking for Tobago lost treasures with this "treasure map". I was looking through the chapter listing of the book and what do you know, there was this chapter called "Finding treasure".
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