A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...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 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 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?
Count your blessings,
not your problems..... Putting others first
makes relationships
last. You might want to send this message
to those people who mean
something to you (I JUST DID); to those who
have touched your life
in one way or another; to those who make
you smile when you really
need it; to those who make you see the
brighter side of things when
you are really down; to those whose
friendship you appreciate; to
those who are so meaningful in your life.
If you don't send it, you will just miss
out on the opportunity to
brighten someone's day with this message!!!
Don't count the years-count the
memories...........
Life is not measured by the number of
breaths we take; but by the
moments that take our breath away!