Live your life so that, at the end, you're the one who is smiling and

A young woman went to her mother, 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 though every time 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
hard boiled 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. But 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 am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain
and adversity do I wilt, 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 break-up, 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 or most 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 that, at the end, you're the one who is smiling and
everyone around you is crying.