I got this in my email and wanted to share it with all of you
Are you an egg or coffee bean ??
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.
May we all be COFFEE