Do You Bend, Harden Or Blend?
When a young woman went to her mother and told her how hard her life was, her mother responded by taking her to the kitchen and filling three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots. In the second she placed eggs. And in the last, she placed ground coffee. She put all three pots on the stove and brought them to a boil. She then fished the carrots and eggs out and placed each in a bowl. She ladled the coffee out and placed it in a mug. Turning to her daughter, she said, “Tell me what you see.”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. She asked her daughter to feel the carrots. She did, and noted that they felt soft. She asked her to crack an egg and peel it. When she did, she saw the hard-boiled egg inside. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich flavor.
The daughter then asked, “So, what’s the point, mom?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity – boiling water – but each had reacted differently. The carrot went in strong and hard, but softened in the hot water. After sitting in boiling water, the egg’s insides had hardened. The coffee was unique, however. After it was in the boiling water, it had actually changed the water itself.
“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Ask yourself, am I the carrot? It seems strong, but with adversity, do I yield and soften? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but becomes firm with the heat? Or am I like the coffee bean? The coffee changes the water. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst can you change the situation around you, or do you let it change you?”
Each response to change has its own value. How do you handle the heat?
Please feel comfortable sharing this story and your thoughts.
