 Purred: Mon Aug 31, '09 7:51am PST |
 | |  | | Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee
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 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.
You might want to send this message to those people who
mean something to you (I JUST DID); to those who have touched
your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile
when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter
side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship
you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.
If you don't send it, you will just miss out on the opportunity to
brighten someone's day with this message!
May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!
 |  |  | |  |
|
| my page | msg me | gift me | become friends | |
0
–6 (NRSV)
