A young woman went to
her grandmother 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 grandmother took her to the kitchen. She
filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the
second she placed eggs and 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 granddaughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel
the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her
to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed
the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The
granddaughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The granddaughter then asked. "What does it mean, mother?"
Her grandmother 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 granddaughter.
"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
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 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 flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at
their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When
the hours is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to
another lever?
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