In adversity, are you a carrot, an egg or a bean?
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She was tired of fighting and struggling.
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 pot, she put carrots, in the second she placed eggs and in the third she placed coffee beans. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the stove. She fished the carrots and eggs and placed them in respective bowls. The mother asked the girl to feel the carrots. She did and noted they were soft. She asked to to take an egg and break it. The girl pulled off the shell and noticed the hard boiled egg. Lastly, she asked her to sip the coffee.
“What does all of this mean, mother?”
The mother explained. The carrots went in hard, strong unrelenting. However, once boiled they became soft, pliable and weak. The eggs went in delicate with its thin outer shell protecting the liquid interior. After the boiling, its interior became hard. The coffee beans were unique, however. After they were boiled, they chagnged the water.
“Which are you my dear?”
Which are you? How do you respond when adversity strikes?
- Do you wilt and lose strength like the carrots?
- Does your exterior remain the same but your spirit harden?
- Or, like the coffee beans, do you take advantage of adversity, change the situation into a ‘flavorful’, positive turn around?
In the end, does adversity cause you to elevate to a higher level of performace?
What steps do you take when faced with adversity to regain stability or to refocus on what’s important to achieving your goals?
