A young woman struggling with life, went to her mother and told her how her life was miserable and hard for her. She was tired of fighting and struggling with her problems and wanted to give up.
Her mother, without saying much, took the young lady to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first pot, she placed carrots, in the second one she placed eggs, and the last she placed some ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil without saying a word to her daughter. The daughter wondered what her mother was trying to do while she was complaining about her life. After some time the mother turned down the burner, fished the carrots and the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out into a cup. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Dear, Tell me what do you see?”. “A Carrot, egg and coffee.” she replied.
“Look closer and feel the carrots” said the mother. The daughter noted that they were soft. The mother then asked her to take an egg and break it. The interior of the egg was hard boiled. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face
The daughter then asked, “What does this mean, mother?”
All the three items, carrot, egg, and coffee went through the same situation , the boiling water . However, each reacted differently. The carrot was strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg was fragile with the thin outer shell and its liquid interior. But after being in the boiling water, it hardened its interior. The ground coffee beans were unique, as it came to the boiling water, it changed the water and gave its incredible aroma.
“What are you?” she asked the daughter. “ How do you respond in difficult situations? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? ”
Are you a carrot that seems strong at first, but becomes soft and loses strength in adversity?
Are you an egg that starts with a malleable heart, but hardens with the heat? Did you have a fluid spirit, but as you struggled with problems, have you become hardened and stiff? Did the problem hardened your free spirit?
Or are you like coffee beans? The beans that change the hot water, the adversity, into an aromatic drink. If you are like the coffee beans, when things are at their worst, you will get better and change the situation around you.
When the hours are the darkest and trials are the greatest do you elevate to the next level?
Life is full of ups and down, but the only thing that truly matters is how we choose to react to situations around us and what we make out of it. Life is all about learning, adapting and converting all the struggles into something positive.
“When it rains, it pours. Maybe the art of life is to convert tough times to great experiences: we can choose to hate the rain or dance in it.” ― Joan Marques
