Of carrots eggs and beans
Of carrots eggs and beansA daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so
hard for her. She didn't how she was going to make it and wanted to give
up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that just as
one problem was solved a new one arose. Her father, a chef, took her to
the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high
fire. Soon the pots came to a boil.
In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he
placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a
word. The daughter waited impatiently, wondering what he was doing.
After about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the
carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and
placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
bowl.
Turning to her he asked: "Darling, what do you see."
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. He brought her closer and
asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the
shell, she
observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee.
She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She humbly asked: "What does
it mean Father?" He explained that each of them had faced the same
adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But 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," he
asked his
daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are
you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and
adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength? Are you
the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid
spirit,
but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you become
hardened and stiff? Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and
tough with a stiff spirit and heart? Or are you like the coffee bean?
posted by Deeps @ 10/26/2004 08:19:00 PM
