Carrots, eggs, and coffee
What can a carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee teach a young
woman tired of fighting and struggling with adversity and heartaches? Read on
and find out the lesson the young woman received from her mother.
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 when 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 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
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, mother?”
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.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. 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?
Thanking You
Atul Sikrai
Chief Mentor
Esteem MeLife
