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 motherand 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, 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 flavour. 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.

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.

It's easier to build a child than repair an adult.

May we all be like COFFEE.