A young woman told her mother about her life and how things were so hard. 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 that 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 a boil. 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 then 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 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 were 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 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 — 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. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. 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 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 of your life. 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? Are you changed by your surroundings or do you bring life, flavor, to them?
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
Today as I was surfing the web for international inspiration I stumbled across the blog of Fahrenheit Creative Group. The admin of this wonderful blog gives people motivational and inspirational quotes and messages to live by. After stumbling upon this wonderful blog site I almost forgot what I was looking for.
Oh. Yeah. I was searching for something that could be passed on to the American nation in a time of uncertainty.
I guess after listening to the opinions of those in my circle about America’s current insufficient funds status I have found their comments mind-boggling. I really want to respond with “do you really believe that crap your voicing!” And my response would not be in question form. I would hope my statement would awaken their intellect in using commonsense [which is no longer common].
It seems everybody is running on scarcity.
Personally, I think the American people, that are generations rooted by birth, are tired of feeling left out. Especially when it comes to the freebies given to those that are illegally living in our country and profiting from the American overtaxed entitlement programs.
It seems that everyone has lost sight of what made America great. The economical dismay of our economy has brought forth spirits of defeat and disdain. Especially for those we find different from our personal and professional communities. The havoc that is being wreaked on lives as dreams are no longer a vision of hope makes me ask: What ever happened to the all American dream?
One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.
–Benjamin Disraeli
The American dream died when the government made it easy for a person to be given a fish when hungry. And the quest for self-worth plummeted when the public demanded more entitlement programs from their local and state government officials. And, sadly, these programs were implemented. As I see things, these handouts removed the instinct for self-preservation. And hinders people to remember and believe in a quote from our founding fathers’:
That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
Black Women Have It Going On 