food for thought
This was shared with me by a friend and i thought i appopriate
to share with those who visit this place. it offers some
wonderful insight on life
May it bring you comfort as it has me in helping me see the
world in a different light
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
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
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 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.
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