Post by debe on Feb 9, 2007 13:38:15 GMT -5
Recieved this e-mail today and well all I can say is Wow
>Carrot, Egg, 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 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 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 you see."
>"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
>Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She
>did and felt 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?"
>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 relenting. 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 flavor.
>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.
>Carrot, Egg, 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 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 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 you see."
>"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
>Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She
>did and felt 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?"
>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 relenting. 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 flavor.
>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.