Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee

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 and placed each on a high fire. Soon
>>> the pots came to boil. In the first 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 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 you
>>> see." Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
>>>
>>> Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel
>>> the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.
>>> The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and
>>> break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed
>>> the hard boiled egg.
>>>
>>> Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the
>>> coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich
>>> aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean?"
>>>
>>> Her mother explained that each of these objects had
>>> faced the same adversity.. boiling water. 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 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 hour is the darkest and trials are their
>>> greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?
>>> How do you handle adversity?
>>>
>>> Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
>>>
>>> May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,enough
>>> trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you
>>> human and enough hope to make you happy.
>>>
>>> The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
>>> of everything; they just make the most of everything
>>> that comes along their way.The brightest future will
>>> always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go
>>> forward in life until you let go of your past failures
>>> and heartaches.
>>>
>>> When you were born, you were crying and everyone
>>> around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end,
>>> you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you
>>> is crying.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> You might want to send this message to those people
>>> who mean something to you (I JUST DID); to those who
>>> have touched your life in one way or another; to those
>>> who make you smile when you really need it; to those
>>> who make you see the brighter side of things when you
>>> are really down; to those whose friendship you
>>> appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your
>>> life.