juwairiyah
22nd May 2007, 02:01 PM
Assalamo'alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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.