Are you a carrot, egg or a coffee bean…

How do you cope when you’re up against adversity?

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was resolved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she dropped a handful of carrots, in the second she placed a few eggs, and in the third she threw in some ground coffee beans. She let them boil without saying a word. After around twenty minutes she turned the heat off. She then 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 poured it into a mug.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, “What do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee” the daughter replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. The daughter did and noted that they had gone soft. The mother then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, the daughter observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma and then asked.

“Why are we doing this?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity…the boiling water…but each had 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 are you?

Are you the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do you wilt and become soft, lose your strength and give up hope?

Are you the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did you have a fluid spirit, but after hardship did you become hardened and stiff? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean? The one which actually changed the hot water, the very circumstance that brought the pain in the first place. When the water got hot, the bean released its fragrance and flavour. 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?

How do you handle adversity?

So, which are you…a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Some people make the future; most wait for the future to make them. And as Napoleon Hill said…"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit".

Check out our other blogs here

To find out more about how I may be able to help your Norfolk business thrive then please don’t hesitate to get in touch on 01603 559590 or email [email protected] – you can also get in touch through my contact form here. If you’d like to know a little more about my experience, expertise and accolades then click here.