*The Carrot, the Egg and the
Coffee*
A carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee... You will never look at a
cup of coffee the same way again. 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 break-up, 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 flavour. 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.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was
smiling.
Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and
everyone
around you is crying.
