Joe Willie On The Shrimpbox: A Carrot, an Egg and a Cup of Coffee.

"A Carrot, an Egg and a Cup of Coffee"
{A folklore tale of wisdom}

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.