A young woman went to her mother telling 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 and then a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second 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 put them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed some in a cup. Turning to her daughter, she asked “What do you see?”
The daughter’s reply was “carrots, eggs and coffee”. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. When she felt them she noticed that they had gotten soft. Then she was asked to take an egg and break it. After pealing off the shell she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she was asked to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted and smelled its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What’s the point mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity – boiling water- but each reacted differently. The carrot had gone in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its tin 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 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 are the darkest and trials are at their greatest, do you elevate to another level?
How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?