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 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 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
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.
The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of
everything; they just make the most 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.
–Unknown
