pam Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 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, 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Curmudgeon Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 So, are we supposed to pick coffee bean? I did.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?'Even though you smell, rather than taste, aromas, I'm off to the kitchen to get me a cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moksha Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Coffee. (Hey, don't kvetch. For all you know, I could be decaf...! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted August 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 I see a little of me in each of them depending on the circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-train Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 I like what eggs do in boiling water when you just crack the shell and stir it in. Eggdrop soup is good. -a-train Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxz72 Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 I'm learning that I am a coffee bean although I could easily go the way of the egg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bethie Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 can I be herb tea? sweet fragerance without the caffeine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelonaWing Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Sometimes I am all 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsha Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 I think that a lot of us are like the egg. As we grow older our emotions become hardened to the outside world of hurt and pain. The egg shell encompasses us to allow us to fight the outside things that become to hurt us while the inside just hardens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GhostRider Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 i agree ith marsha. Alot of us are like eggs. The more the trials we go through the more hardend we become and ask the why me. I am trying to be like coffee. through studying and a lot of prayer I hope that My "center" can soften up alot. It is a very interesting way to put it.. I am deff going to send this to my parents if it is ok with you pam. Through all the stuff my father has been through...He stayed coffee and rejoiced with HF through it all.. Thanks also to pam for sharing this with us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroTypical Posted August 31, 2008 Report Share Posted August 31, 2008 Carrots are yummier after cooked. Hard boiled eggs store longer, and you can make deviled eggs out of them. This isn't an example of two failures and one success. This is a story about how three different substances all changed and improved in various ways due to the boiling water. Ya bunch of vego-discriminatory anti-egg wierdos! LM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted August 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2008 Carrots are yummier after cooked. Hard boiled eggs store longer, and you can make deviled eggs out of them. This isn't an example of two failures and one success. This is a story about how three different substances all changed and improved in various ways due to the boiling water. Ya bunch of vego-discriminatory anti-egg wierdos! LM hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazed-and-confused Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 i've been all three at various times...and i'm thinking about the potential of each item and their function in a kitchen....remind of coffee's nutritional value again? yea..i've definately been all three at times.....but hey...i'm WORKIN on it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Curmudgeon Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 ....remind of coffee's nutritional value again?Anti-oxidant. Latest studies say that it seems to protect against strokes and heart disease and loss of memory in old age. Coffee drinkers have a longer life expectancy.And Postum is no longer on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truegrits Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 And Postum is no longer on the market. I know......I have one jar left, and can find nothing to replace it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Curmudgeon Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 Cafix, Pero, Caro. All contain acrylamide, a carcinogen, but wadda ya gonna do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tough Grits Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 I am sure that if I sit here long enough and think back, I can find where I have been all three.However, I find that mostly I am the carrot.I am not sure why others always think of me or see me as tough, but I am quite sensitive. I have spent years trying to figure out if it was my life experiences that have made so, or if it is just the personality/spirit that I was born with. I am sure the true answer is closer to a mixture of both.At any rate, most of the time I am strong, up-beat, bubbly, and "with it". But then I get so tired of the struggle, the battle, and the constant bombardment from life itself that I get tired and weak and I just get soft like the carrot.I would love to eventually be like the coffee bean. That would be ideal. I am working on it. But for now I am mostly a carrot, with some egg thrown in.Right now I am just trying to reconcile with myself that it is okay to get tired, or discouraged, or "soft", so long as I do not stay that way.There is a huge difference, in my opinion, between being discouraged and having given up all hope. I have been there too. When I suffered a break-down during Christmas of 2004, I had reached that point where I had lost all my hope. Game Over. I wanted out. Those were dark days, that can never truly be explained to another unless they have had to endure similar circumstances.Maybe we should be mindful of all the carrots and eggs out there, so that we are not contributing to any added pain or suffering to them. Though we should all be aspiring to be like the coffee bean in this particular instance, we should also consider how we interact with one another and whether or not we are the ones turning up the heat on somebody else's pot of water.Just a thought from a carrot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelonaWing Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 Since they took my Postum away... I am now drinking Pero.... Not bad..... I don't drink it every night...... just once in a while. True Grits I love your avatar now!! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazed-and-confused Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 so capt....do the anti-oxadents still appear in decaf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truegrits Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 Since they took my Postum away... I am now drinking Pero.... AngelonaWing...the problem is, that I cannot find Pero anywhere in my area... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moksha Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 Cafix, Pero, Caro. All contain acrylamide, a carcinogen, but wadda ya gonna do? Yikes! Sounds like a call for a health food like green tea.. AngelonaWing...the problem is, that I cannot find Pero anywhere in my area... First Postum and now Pero? Could this be an international conspiracy by Starbucks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.