"Carrots, eggs, and coffee,"

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 20 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 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?




a very nice story..to make me wonder..which am i?i like to be the bean..