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| Photo Credit: Runtastic |
Have you
ever been in a situation in your life where you were struggling with something
and felt like things were not getting better? As I was reflecting on some of
the obstacles I’ve overcome and those yet to be conquered, I thought about a
story. It is a story that I have heard many times and in many variations.
The story of
the carrot, the egg, and the coffee bean presents a lesson on facing adversity.
Read below and see what you think.
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 that 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 a 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 20 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,” the
young woman replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the
carrots. She 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 then asked, “What
does it mean 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. After they were in the boiling water, they had
changed the water.
“Which are you?” the mother 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, or a financial hardship, 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 changes the water, the very
circumstance that brings the pain.
Author Unknown
You can
choose to be like the coffee bean, when things seem at their worst, change the
situation around you. Have you ever been in a situation where you had be like
that coffee bean?
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