imported post
>Subject: a CUP OF 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 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 do 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?
>Count your blessings, not your problems...... Putting others first makes
>relationships last. There are moments in life when you miss someone so
>much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for
>real! When the door of happiness closes, another opens; often times we
>look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one, which has been
>opened for us.
>Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades
>away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to
>make a dark day seem bright.
>Find the one that makes your heart smile. Dream what you want to dream; go
>where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one
>life and one chance to do all the things you want to do. 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.
>You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to
>you (I JUST DID); to those who have touched your life in one way or
>another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who
>make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those
>whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your
>life