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, 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?
True
Love
--
Author Unknown
It was a busy
morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in
his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his
thumb.
He said
he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00
am.
I took his vital signs and had him take a seat,
knowing it would be over an hour before someone
would to able to see him.
I saw
him looking at his watch and decided, since I was
not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his
wound.
On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of
the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his
sutures and redress his wound.
While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he
had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he
was in such a hurry.
The gentleman
told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home
to eat breakfast with his wife.
I inquired as to her health.
He told me
that she had been there for a while and that she was
a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.
As we talked,
I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late.
He replied
that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not
recognized him in five years now.
I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go
every morning, even though she doesn't know who you
are?'
He smiled as he patted
my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still
know who she is.'
I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose
bumps on my arm, and thought, 'That is the kind of
love I want in my life.'
True love is neither physical, nor romantic.
True love is
an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and
will not be.
Heaven or Hell: A
Doggy Story
--
Author Unknown
A man and his dog were
walking along a road. The man was enjoying the
scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he
was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside
him had been dead for years. He wondered where the
road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall
along one side of the road. It looked like fine
marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by
a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.
When he was standing
before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch
that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street
that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and
the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got
closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse
me, where are we?" "This is Heaven, sir,"
the man answered. "Wow! Would you
happen to have some water?" the man asked.
"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some
ice water brought right up." The man
gestured, and the gate began to open.
"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come
in, too?" the traveler asked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."
The man thought
a moment and then turned back toward the road and
continued the way he had been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at the top of another
long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through
a farm gate that looked as if it had never been
closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man
inside, leaning against a tree and reading a
book. "Excuse me!" he called to the
man. "Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's
a pump over there, come on in." "How
about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to
the dog. "There should be a bowl by
the pump."
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there
was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside
it.
The traveler filled
the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then
he gave some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back
toward the man who was standing by the tree.
"What do you call this place?" the traveler
asked. "This is Heaven," he
answered. "Well, that's confusing,"
the traveler said. "The man down the road said
that was Heaven, too."
"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and
pearly gates? Nope. That's hell."
"Doesn't it make you
mad for them to use your name like
that?"
"No, we're just happy
that they screen out the folks who would leave
their best friends behind."
