A Carrot, An Egg, and a Cuppa Tea

A carrot, an egg and a cup of tea...One may never look at a cup of tea 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 ahigh 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 fragrant tea leaves. 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 tea out and placed it ina bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?""Carrots, eggs, and tea," 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 tea. 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 outershell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The tea leaves 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 tea leaf?"

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 theheat? 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 tea? The tea 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 tea leaves, 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 tea?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.

Source: the Internet