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 two on a high fire. Soon the pots
came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed
ground coffee beans and in the last she placed eggs. She lighted the fire
under it. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In a few 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 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 insides 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 best 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.
May we all
be COFFEE!!!!!!!!
