Philosophy: Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee

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.    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 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, mother?'    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.  May we all be COFFEE (beans) !!!!!! !  Love....Peace.....Joy