I received this story in an email today. Usually I just delete forwarded things, but the lady that sent it with me really liked it and she knows how I feel about coffee so she told me I really should read it. I did, and I liked it, so I thought I would share it with you today.
Enjoy........... (By now you are probably thinking what is this girls deal with coffee. Right?)
Carrot, Egg , Or Coffee
A young woman went to her mother and told her
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.
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.
s
k
-n
d
)
