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 one 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 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?”
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?” the mother asked the 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 of these 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
changed the hot water, the very circumstances that bring the pain. When the
water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and the 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?
You can watch a Power Point Show of this wonderful story here on the link below...
You can watch a Power Point Show of this wonderful story here on the link below...
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