A carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee

A carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee. . You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.


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 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," 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.
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?