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.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots
with water. In the first, she placed carrots. In the second,
she placed eggs and the last one, she placed ground coffee
beans. She let them 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.
The mother explained that each of these objects had faced the
same adversity–the boiling water–but 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 one 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 a
hardened heart?
Or am I like a 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 hours
are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate
to another level?
umakemehappi · 1 decade ago
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reply
im doing this with my children when i grow up. <3