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 over a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first one, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last, oolong tea. She let the pots sit and boil without saying a word.
About twenty minutes later, she turned off the burners. She fished out the carrots and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she poured the oolong tea into a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, tell me what you see.?
Carrots, eggs and oolong tea,?the daughter replied.
Her mother beckoned 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 looked at the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the oolong. The daughter smiled as she tasted the teas rich aroma, 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 in the boiling water, its inside hardened.
The oolong tea was unique, however. After the leaves had been in the boiling water, they had changed the colour and taste of the water.
Which are you??she asked her daughter. Then adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or oolong tea? Think of this: Which am I?
Im I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Im 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, 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 oolong tea? The tea actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases its fragrance and flavour. If you are like the tea, 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 oolong tea?
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 Internet has become a wonderful medium for passing around heart-warming or thought-provoking stories like this tale. Today抯 story was sent in by S.P. CHIN.
