Stop Chasing Success—It’s Not a Race, It’s a Coffee Date

People say, “Don’t jump into the race for success.”
And almost always, someone raises an eyebrow and asks,
“So… you just sit around and somehow get successful?”
I grin and reply,
“Yes—if you’ve got a cup of coffee, a good cookie, and a breeze of wisdom in your head.”

One lazy afternoon, I was at a small coffee shop on the corner—
not a shiny Starbucks, but the kind of place where the barista knows your order before you walk in.
Through the big glass window, I watched the world rush by.

Some people were running to catch the bus,
some juggling laptops and iced lattes on their way to work,
some speed-walking like Olympic athletes toward their next meeting,
and some clearly rushing to see someone they love.

But here’s what caught my attention—
not one of them was smiling.
Their faces weren’t excited, just tense, eyes sharp and restless.
It was like everyone had been told that success was a bus,
and if you didn’t hop on right now,
your entire life would leave without you.

I sat there with my cappuccino, slowly dipping a biscotti into the foam,
and wondered:
Where does success live in all this madness?
Because from where I sat, success looked more like a shy introvert—
the kind that doesn’t like noise,
doesn’t like chaos,
and definitely doesn’t like being chased down the street.

Success wants peace.
It wants you to slow down,
tell a story,
laugh at a bad joke,
watch how the light hits the coffee in your cup.
If you charge at it like a line-backer,
it’ll run faster than a quarterback on game day.

But if you stop—
really stop—
look up at the sky,
hear the birds arguing in the trees,
watch the steam curl off your cup,
and tell yourself,
“Today, I’m not running. Today, I’m just living,”
that’s when success quietly pulls up a chair,
puts its elbows on the table,
and says,
“Hey… you seem chill. Mind if I sit here?”

That’s the thing—
sometimes success doesn’t want you to chase it.
It wants to sneak up on you
when you’re too busy enjoying your coffee to notice.

Later that day, a friend saw me sitting there and said,
“Man, you don’t seem to be doing anything… how come you’re so calm?”
I took a slow sip, smiled, and replied,
“Because I have coffee with success,
while you’re sprinting after it.”

And I swear, I could feel success smirking beside me,
as if to say,
“This one gets it—
life isn’t a race… it’s a story worth sipping slowly.”