A bit lengthy but worth reading through
CUP OF COFFEE
Author Unknown
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life an 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 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 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," her daughter
replied.
She brought her daughter closer and asked her to feel the Carrots. The
daughter noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and
break it. After pulling off the shell, the daughter observed
the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked her
daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich
aroma.
Then the daughter asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained, "Each of these objects has faced the same adversity
-- boiling water -- but each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hared, 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.
They 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 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 once have a fluid
spirit, but after death, 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 a 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. When things are at their worst, do I get better and change the
situation around me?
How do you handle adversity? When the hours are the darkest and trials are
their greatest, do you
elevate to another level?
What gives you the greatest opportunity for long term happiness?
That is your highest choice.