A young woman went to her mother
and told her about her life and how things were 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 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, how
do you respond? 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. May we
all be coffee!
