Spring, for most of us in the north, is a welcome sign after winter’s cold and dark hold on our world. Many beautiful things return to Michigan, including flowers, birds, insects, and green grass. If we have an early spring, most of us are happy. If we have a late spring, we tend to be grumbly. It is amazing how I let weather affect my attitude. Cannot control the weather, but I can control my reaction to it.
So, in the celebration of spring and taking control of our reaction to uncontrollable events, I want to share an appropriate story I was gifted a few years back.
A CARROT, AN EGG, AND 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. I 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 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 20 minutes she turned off the burners and she put the contents of each 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 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 this 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 and came out soft and 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- they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks at your door, how do you respond? Are you the carrot, the egg, or the coffee bean?”
We need to ask ourselves this question- 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 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 world around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are the greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?
How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
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