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Life Talk!

Are You A Carrot, An Egg, Or A Coffee Bean?

zanaz

zanaz

Algeria

"A certain daughter complained to her father about her life and how things have been so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and she wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that just as one problem was solved another arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed the fire on high. Soon the three pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the other he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently wondered what he was trying to do. She had problems, and he was making this strange concoction. In half an hour he walked over to the stove and turned down the fire. He pulled the carrots out and placed them in the bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in the bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her he asked. “Darling what do you see?

“Smartly, she replied. “Carrots, eggs, and coffee.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Her face frowned from the strength of the coffee.

Humbly, she asked. “What does it mean Father?”

He explained. “Each of them faced the same adversity, 212 degrees of boiling water. However each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after going through boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg was fragile. A thin outer shell protected a liquid center. But after sitting through the boiling water, it’s inside became hardened. The coffee beans are unique however. After they were in the boiling water, it became stronger and richer.

Which are you, he asked his daughter? When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with the smallest amount of pain, adversity, or heat you wilt and become soft with no strength.

Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? A fluid spirit. But after a death, a divorce, an accident you became hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but you are so bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart, internally.

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean does not get its peak flavor and robust until it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better."

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or coffee bean? 

04:14 PM Apr 27 2009 |

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~amoon~

~amoon~

Saudi Arabia

really nice story ,, i think in our life we all face the 3 cases but mainly for me i'll try harder i can to get over the carrot and the egg and continue being as coffee beans

thanx a lot
t.c

05:53 PM Apr 27 2009 |

lilimira

lilimira

Algeria

i know now why i like coffee so much!Laughing

07:02 PM Apr 27 2009 |

NabilaSh

NabilaSh

Syrian Arab Republic

me too, i like coffee :P

07:13 PM Apr 27 2009 |

NabilaSh

NabilaSh

Syrian Arab Republic

what’s Yemeni coffee? nobody had invited me to test it :P

07:31 PM Apr 27 2009 |

zanaz

zanaz

Algeria

 For those who liked the lesson: CRANberry, Rosella, amoon, and talknow, here is another one:

Philisophy in a Jar

" A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks right to the top, rocks about 2″ diameter.He then asked the students if the jar was full ? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them in to the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.The students laughed. He asked his students again if the jar was full ? They agreed that yes, it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life.

The rocks are the important things – your faith, your beliefs, your family, your partner, your health, your children – anything that is so important to you that if it were lost,you would be nearly destroyed.

The pebbles are the other things in life that matter,but on a smaller scale.The pebbles represent things like your job,your house,your car etc.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff. If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first,there is no room for the rocks.

The same goes for your life.
If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff,material things,you will never have room for the things that are truly most important.Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life.

Play with your children. Spend quality time with your spouse. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, fix the car etc.

” Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. The rest is just pebbles and sand.”

08:34 PM Apr 27 2009 |

Pepo I

Peru

Hi, i' m from Peru

08:36 PM Apr 27 2009 |

Pepo I

Peru

i want speak

08:38 PM Apr 27 2009 |

zanaz

zanaz

Algeria

Hakimi, you invited some Ebabians on different threads to taste Yemeni coffee, so here's a story about coffee for you and for those who like coffee: lilimira and NabilahSh

"A group of Ebabians, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University lecturer (hakimi). Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests Yemeni coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of  coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, Hakimi said: “If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While, it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other’s cups.”

“Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change.” “Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.”

So, don’t let the cups drive you…enjoy the Yemeni coffee instead…Laughing

 

09:01 PM Apr 27 2009 |

NabilaSh

NabilaSh

Syrian Arab Republic

i don't remember !!!

:P

10:21 PM Apr 27 2009 |

zanaz

zanaz

Algeria

Zanaz

i'm sorry for that..but our provoking on you has given good result

How're you doing, Hakimi? I really don't know what are you driving atSealed What do you mean?

BLINK, Rosella and Yuna

You are welcome=) 

 

 

04:33 PM Apr 29 2009 |