Carrot, Egg or Coffee Bean...

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life, and how things were so difficult for her. She said she did not know how she was going to make it, and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling, and it seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her into the kitchen, and she filled three pots with water. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed coffee beans. Then, she let them sit and boil without saying a word. A short while later she turned off the burners, fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She then 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, and she did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee, and her daughter grinned as she savored its rich flavor. The daughter asked what all of this meant...

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - the boiling water; but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its soft interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became stiff and hardened. However, the coffee beans were unique. After they faced the boiling water they had actually changed the water. Through adversity, they had become something lovely. "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?

Are you like the carrot that seems strong - but with pain and adversity, do you wilt and become soft, losing your strength? Are you like the egg that starts with a soft heart, but changes with the heat? Did you have a fluid spirit - but after death, a hardship or some other trial becomes hardened and stiff? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside are you tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am you like the coffee bean that actually changes the water… the very circumstance that brings the pain. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst you get better and you change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are at their greatest, are you able to elevate and rise to another level? ... How do you handle Adversity? Are you a Carrot, an Egg, or a Coffee Bean?