Carrots, Eggs or Coffee?

Carrots, Eggs or Coffee?

A daughter complained to her mother about her life, the things that were hard on her and her desire to give it all up. 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 flame to boil. She added carrots to one, eggs in the second, and in the last she dropped in some ground coffee beans. She let them boil for about twenty minutes. She then fished the carrots and eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter she asked "Darling, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee." she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She noted they were soft. Then she broke an egg. The daughter observed the egg had been boiled well. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

She asked in a humble voice, "What does it mean mother?" Her mother explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but had reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But when dropped in the boiling water, it softened and became tender. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But when boiled for a while, its core hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique however. When added to the boiling water, they changed the nature of the water.

"Which one of these are you"? she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you react"?

How about you dear reader?

Are you the carrot that appears hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength? Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you hardened and become stiff? Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean adapts to the changes wrought by the hot water. Even when the water is very hot, it improves the taste.

If you are like the bean then, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things around you, better.