A CARROT, AN EGG AND COFFEE BEANS

A young woman told her mother 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.  Her problems never seemed to end, as when one was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water and placed each pot on a high fire.  Soon the water in the pots came to boil. In the first pot, she placed carrots, in the second pot she placed eggs, and in the last pot 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 another bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a third bowl.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what 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.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you?” she asked her daughter.

LESSON LEARNED:
When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Are you the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, wilted and become soft and lose strength?

Are you the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?  Used to have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, become hardened and stiff?  Though the shell look the same, but on the inside, bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or are you 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.  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?