A Cup of Coffee


               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.  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  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.

               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 daughter then asked. "What's the point, mother?"

               Her  mother 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
          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 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. 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
          A CARROT, AN EGG OR A COFFEE BEAN?

          Auther unknown.


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