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 felt frustrated whenever things did not turn well for her. It had affected her self-esteem.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. 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 repplied.
The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. The daughter did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked her to take an egg adn break it. After peeling off the shell, the mother asked her daughter to observe the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted it.
The daughter then asked. "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity-- boiling water-- but 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 softened and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a 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 coffee bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
