I came across this story on Facebook, and I wanted to save it. It is about a young woman and her grandmother:
A
young woman went to her grandmother 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 that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her grandmother 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 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 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 granddaughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. 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. The daughter smiled as she
tasted its rich aroma.
The granddaughter then asked, "What does it mean, Grandmother?"
Her grandmother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity -- boiling water -- but 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 granddaughter. "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 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 of your life. If you are like the bean, when
things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation
around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their
greatest, do you elevate to another level?
How do you handle adversity? Are you changed by your surroundings or do you bring life, flavor, to them?
ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?
No comments:
Post a Comment