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 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?
