Acarrot, 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, 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 flavour. 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? May you have enough happiness to
make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong,
enough sorrow to keep you human and enough
hope to make you happy.
The brightest future will always be based on a
forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until
you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
