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 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 hardboiled 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?
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.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so
at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
