Carrots, Eggs and Coffee

one of those emails that percolate...

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 asone 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 placedground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrotsout and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in abowl. 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 itsrich 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 theboilingwater, 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 stiffspirit 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 andflavor.If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get betterandchange the situation around you.When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevateyourself 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 youstrong, 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; theyjust 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 inlife until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.