Authored by BlueAngel on
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
The following essay was sent to me via e-mail by one of my retired nurse friends in our Polio Survivors Association. It is indeed a very thought provoking essay. It is something that you will take away with you and as she says you will never look at coffee in quite the same way again.
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
WELL worth the read...
This is very profound & 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.
Inthe 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 daughter, 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 got 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 daughter smiled, as she tasted 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 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 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 their greatest do you
elevate to another level?
How do you handle Adversity? ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE
BEAN?
Don't tell GOD how big your storm is. Tell the storm how big your GOD
is!
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