A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how
things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make
it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It
seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and
placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first
she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she
placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a
word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the
carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed
them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots,
eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked
her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.
The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After
pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the
mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.
The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then
asked,
"What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity ... boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being
subjected to the
boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid
interior, but after sitting
through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the
boiling water, they
had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter.
"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a
carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and
become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?
Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial
hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my
shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff
spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the
very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases
the fragrance and flavor.
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and
change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are
their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How
do you handle adversity?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make
you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you
happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything,
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't
go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
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