My supervisor posted this story in our dispatcher newsletter.
A young woman went to
her grandmother 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 grandmother took
her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed
carrots, in the second she placed eggs and 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
granddaughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs,
and coffee," she replied.
She brought her
closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft.
She then asked her to take an egg and break it.
After pulling off the
shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, she asked
her to sip the coffee. The granddaughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The granddaughter
then asked. "What's the point, grandmother?"
Her grandmother
explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity--boiling
water--but 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 granddaughter. "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 a 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 hours are
the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?
--AUTHOR UNKNOWN —
No comments:
Post a Comment