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 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 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.
Jaycees…Changing Our
Surroundings
