Life Lesson I have learned......

Here is a life lesson I was sent from a dear friend. I want to share with everyone!
It has changed my way of thinking and how I handle myself.
Enjoy!

Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee


A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup
of coffee the same way again.
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.
Her 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?
May you have enough contentment 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, either from laughing to hard,
or because they're missing you!