The Carrot, The Egg and The Coffee Bean
>
>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.
This is something that I came across almost 3 years ago. May God give us the strength to be like the coffee bean.
