FWD: (AGH!)
I don't like mass email forwards. You know the ones I'm talking about. The "send it to 15 people or you'll lose a leg" or "support the troops by sending this email to 200 friends or you're a horrible person and deserve to die"...okay, maybe I'm exaggerating.
Still, the forwards of bad jokes, lame quotes, and rehashed cliches get annoying. Within minutes of receiving these dreaded emails, they are directly tranfered from Inbox to Deleted Items.
Just a few minutes ago, while avoiding 2 essays and the dozens of items on my To-Do list, I checked my inbox to find a new message. The subject line read:
Fwd: FWD: Carrot, Egg, and a Cup of Coffee.
Of course, the FWDs were an obvious sign to delete. However....the rest of the subject line caught my attention...
I opened up the email, half-expecting to find a corney junior-high friendship poem (but knowing that the sender had better taste!). What I found surprised me. Big time.
For the first time in at least two years...I read through an entire forward! AND I LIKED IT!
..........And I'm forwarding it!!!!! WHAT?!
So, here you go. My you be as enlightened as I was....and for those of you who are cramming last minute essays and projects and just wish these last 3 weeks of the semester would end already......this is for you!
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A Carrot, an Egg, and a Cup of Coffee
You will never look at a cup of coffee 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 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. 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. 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 (say....a HUGE homework load?), 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? How do you handle the stress? 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.
May we all be COFFEE.
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Good luck with the mad rush of final essays, projects, and presentations!! Just remember...it will all be over soon! ......now get back to your essay!
