Storytime

Many of you had already heard this story. However, it is worth repeating because lately I have been giving a lot of thought about how I respond to things vs how I want to respond to things:

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 pot, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and 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 do you see?" 


"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied. 


She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. The daughter did and noted that they got soft. Her mother then asked her to take the egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, her mother asked her to smell and sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she smelled and 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 trials and adversity knock on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"


Are you the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength? Are you the egg that starts with a passive heart, but changes with the heat? Did you have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a financial hardship or some other trial, have you become hardened and stiff? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside, are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?


Or, are you 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 become better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?