| Facing Adversity |
| A young woman complained that life seemed to be one problem after another. She was so tired of the struggle that sometimes she felt like giving up. Her mother took her to the kitchen where she put three pots of water on to boil. In the first pot she put carrots, in the second she put eggs, and in the third she put ground coffee beans. She let them boil and said nothing. Twenty minutes later she turned off the burners and put the carrots and eggs and coffee into bowls to cool. To her daughter she said, "Tell me what you see." "I see cooked carrots, eggs and coffee," said the daughter. She asked her to feel the carrots, which she did and discovered they were soft. She asked her to take an egg and peel it, which she did and found it was hard-boiled. Then she asked her to sip the coffee, which she did and enjoyed its smooth rich taste and aroma. "What does this all mean?" she asked. Her mother said, Each of these objects faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each one reacted differently. The carrot went in strong and hard, but after twenty minutes in boiling water it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile with a thin outer shell protecting a liquid interior, but after sitting in the boiling water it became hardened throughout. The ground coffee beans were unique. While they were in the boiling water they changed the water. Finally she asked her daughter, Which one are you? When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? The daughter thought, Which one am I? Am I like the carrot that seems strong, but with pain gives up its strength and becomes soft? Am I like an egg that starts with a malleable heart, but hardens with the heat? Do I have a fluid spirit but after a loss, a breakup, a financial hardship or other trial, become stiff and callused? Does my shell look the same, but I take on tough spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean, which actually changes the hot water, the pain-bringing circumstance? The coffee bean releases fragrance and flavor in hot water, and the hotter the better. To be like the bean, when things are at their worst, is to bring change that improves the situation. I want to be like the coffee bean. |
| So the next time you must face it, old bean, how will you handle adversity? |
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