Dear colleagues,
The Easter
holiday has passed, and we have stepped into a rather
busy month. While devoting ourselves to work, we need to take
good care of our health.
I would
like to share with you an inspiring article below. Life is full of challenges. Hope we can all grow in the face of
adversity.
Ting Hong
Carrots, Eggs
and Coffee -- Food for Thought – Facing Adversity
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, 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 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 at the end, you're the
one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.