Carrot, Egg or 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. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. 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 and eggs out and placed them on a plate. Then she ladled the coffee out into 2 mugs. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "So which are you? Carrots, eggs, or coffee?"

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. "A carrot is normally strong, hard and unrelenting. See? When you place a carrot in hot water. They go soft and weak."

Then her mother asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed this aboutthe hard-boiled egg. "Eggs are normally fragile with a thin outter shell. When you put them in hot water they become hard."

Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked. "What's the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity--boiling water--but each reacted differently. 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?"~ Unknown Source