I saw this on Facebook and thought I would share!
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 as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her grandmother 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 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 got 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 granddaughter
smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The granddaughter then asked.
"What's the point,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. 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?
---AUTHOR UNKNOWN — —
