This is Great:
GOD'S YELLOW PAGES

Carrot-egg-cup of coffee

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 hardboiled 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 outershell 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!