Adversity

[Melissa]

This was in my email this morning, and a good thought to start the morning with

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?

[emma]

What a great little tidbit! I love it.

I feel like the carrot most days,, lol BUT I want to be the bean!!!!!!