I received this in an email and thought it was quite interesting!! Really made me think....

FOOD FOR THOUGHT > > 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 > > soon 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 a boil. In the >first, > > she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and 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 do you see?" > > > > "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. > > > > She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and >noted > > that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. >After > > pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she >asked > > her 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--but 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 actually 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?" > > > > 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 a 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 hours are the darkest and >trials > > are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? > > > > How do you handle adversity? > > > > ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN? >

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

Answers

An interesting analogy. However, I would have to mix it all together in one pot to come up with what I am. I am a "stew". The weaker ones always tend to feed off of me and restore their strength , while I store away the emotional baggage they carried :>)

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

Interesting story! Thanks Marcia. I hope to someday be more like a coffee bean, but for now, I think I'm more like the water...just a vehicle for increasing the temperature...yikes! Thanks for giving me something to ponder! 8-)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

I think----no thats wrong--Hmmm---maybe--no-yes???? HELP ME I DON"T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!.....Kirk

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Kirk...maybe you belong in the same "stew" with Jay :-)!!

After being self-employed for so long, I think...generally...Harry and I have become eggs! It's amazing how many folks try to take advantage of you, especially if they're long time customers. But, even though we might be hard-boiled eggs...we "mush" up pretty easily once our shells are removed!!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Hmmm....I just don't know. When Richard lost his job last fall and became a carrot (only for a day or so and then he perked up) I was the coffee bean but then a bout of pneumonia that wouldn't let go hit and the pressures of parenting, building the barn before snowfall, and unemployment all came to a head when I smacked my head on a beam and totally carroted out!!! After bawling for about an hour and taking a nap I was a coffee bean again but with a touch of egg..hardening a bit and becoming stronger is not always a bad thing. The coffee bean analogy seems so Pollyanna-esque don't you think? Turning lemons to lemonade and all that. I do try but sometimes ya just have to be an egg or a carrot as circumstance warrant. We'd do better with a few more coffee beans in the world though don't ya think? So, to sum up...I am a coffee bean with carrot and egg moments! Hey Polly?? Which are you?? :o)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Ahh, the coffee bean. The abrasion of life grinds him down and in the heat of conflict makes all around him blackhearted and bitter.

Better to be a biscuit. Starts out life soft and malleable but in the heat of conflict firms up and rises to the occasion until he acquires a golden outlook.

: )

.......Alan.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Maybe we're all a bunch of real "tough cookies"!!!?? Polly HAS to be a coffee bean :-)!!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

I'll have an egg with my coffee, thank-you! I flip and flop, like everyone else I suppose. I make it throught the tuff times mostly okay, but then I have to sit down and conciously make myself relax afterward. There've been a few times in my life when nothing else would do but to go out in the woods and just scream incoherently at the top of my voice - curse the gods, if you will - like when Mama was dying, or my second miscarriage. Just have to get the anger and rage out of your system somehow. 'Course, the key to this is to be able to STOP screaming once you start!! For day to day aggravations, a good old muttering cussing stomp through the house cleaning something usually takes care of those!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Polly, have you ever tried screaming underwater? One of the many reasons I like swimming!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Allison,

When I was "walked out the door" last year, I never felt as one of the listed vegetables. Instead I stood in the parking lot outside the guard shack and saw the rising sun and thought "This door closed behind me, think I'll take a walk on the mountain, then see what other doors are ajar". After spending the day for myself, I came home and took my family out to eat as was our usual schedule and informed them I was unemployed. The next day , I began my new direction as a part time independent consultant and full time agronomist. Of course my ex couldn't handle her loss of standard social industrial income (she would make an excelent communist :>) and left. Hence, my view of myself as a "stew" (maybe with a few nuts for flavor :>)

I believe that all of us have the power within ourselves to pass any obstacle in our path. All it takes is clear thinking and harmonious , non- ebbing emotions within.

Polly

"tough times " are of equal importance as "good times". Without both, how could we know when we are having "fun"? life is only perspective.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Jay...you seem to be a very "deep" person with a good handle on your life!!

Anne...Screaming underwater to me always seemed similar to screaming during a dream! It's like everyone should be able to hear you, but really...no one can :-)!!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Anne, I swim sort of like a rock; if I'm underwater and screaming, I WANT someone to hear! And throw a rope, etc... I prefer my water hot tub deep and hot tub temperature. Damn, but I'm getting old!

Jay, if everyone was able to keep things in balance as well as you; I'd be out of a job! It takes a lot to get me to the point of screaming; mostly I just say "Dang. Now what?!" and go on. Some nights at work, I have been known to look skyward and say "Next?" with a slightly deranged look. Ususally happens right after I call the security guards and offer 'em a donut to run out to the highway and take down the "FREE BEER IN ER" sign that I am just positively certain that some joker has put up; and have the guards tell me they can't leave ER 'cause they've got a customer down there for me. Job security, I guess. We're starting to slow down on overdoses and getting back into drunks - must be springtime!

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2002

Polly ,

One of the people that taught me how to approach life was a retired combat promoted general , who told me "a sucking chest wound was justnatures way of telling a grunt its time to slow down and he always avoided that talk with nature while gaining the high ground" :>) it works in everyday life too. When your stressed out over the stupidity that brings some to the ER, keep in mind your smarter than they are.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2002

I missed this one because I was away and didn't have time to read.

Think about the coffee beans: First, SOME people may enjoy the end product -- some may not! Second, notice that the coffee beans were GROUND up first. The carrot was not ground, the egg was not ground, but the coffee beans were. So that means you have to go through the grinder before you can even begin to brew (not to mention the drying and roasting before grinding)! I don't think I want to be a coffee bean. And in the case of all three, you still end up being consumed! :-P

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2002

Joy is back :>)

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2002