Sunday, September 13, 2009

I Would Like a Cup of Coffee...Please

A friend sent me this in an email today, and I usually just delete forwards, but this one spoke to me and had me thinking about myself, and in a not so positive light, I might add. If I am honest here, and I strive to be, I found myself falling into two of the three categories more often than not.

Unfortunately, circumstances in my life certainly have given cause for me to wilt and crumble or resolve to be hard as a cooked egg....but that is not really how we would chose to live if truth be told. I hope this message finds its way to all who needs to read it...it really has turned on the light bulb for me this morning.....what will you strive to be?



A carrot, an egg, and a cup of 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 noted that 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 unrelenting. 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.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

12 comments:

  1. WOW how inspiring! Thanks so much for sharing this post today. Warm wishes, Esther

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  2. Suzanne,
    Thanks so much for the insight into my very self!
    I plan to copy this and give it to my group of nursing students this week - sometimes they struggle so! I hope that this will give them new insight into themselves!
    Have a great Sunday!
    Hugs,
    Cindy

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  3. Hi There! I'm just buzzing around blogland, and found you! Love this post! How very true! What's that saying... life is 10% what happens to you and 90 % how you respond to it! Great thoughts!

    Have a blessed day!
    Becky

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  4. Suzanne...this was a fantastic post today, making us all stop and think and feel. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this with us. It's a very worthwhile message.

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  5. I understand the message completely as I have been all three at one or other. I am trying to do different now. What a great thing it would be to go back several years and know what you know now. Everyone should try doing this more.

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  6. I like the quote at the end of that story!

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  7. What a great post, Suzanne! I think we could all do with a reminder like this. It's all in the way you look at things, and some of us definitely need an attitude adjustment! I've bookmarked this post, for the times when I need one!

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  8. Hi Suzanne! This was a wonderful post! This is one I need to copy for myself!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia;)

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  9. Thank you, Suzanne. I needed that today! Lane

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  10. This is so true and am so glad you posted this -----I have found myself in the first two most of my life due to the situations and circumstances I have lived in but most of those were my doings----I certainly made a lot of mistakes and wish I could do things all over but------I am trying to be the coffee bean---and with God's help I am getting better---maybe it's the age thing but as we go through a lot and we age we seem to realize the things we thought were important are not and realize we only have this life to live and we need to think about the next life---where will we spend it?---so that is my focus now, was always there but more so now----I just want my life to please Jesus----all the little stuff we get upset over just does not matter and is not worth it---but pleasing Him does.I am going to work this into a teaching for the Ladies meeting at the church, some how. Very good.!!!!

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  11. I'm sending this link on to others - very enlightening thoughts here! Thanks for sharing it.

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Sometimes someone says something really small, and it's like it fits into this empty space in your heart!

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts here, they really mean a lot to me!

Suzanne

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