Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee Beans - A Story

[Guest guest]

Dear Frenz,

Another wonderful story...

 

 

Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee Beans

 

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. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed

eggs and the last, 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. The

daughter did and noted that they were 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!

 

Sairam,

Swetha