A Carrot, An Egg, and a Cup of Tea

A CARROT, AN EGG, AND A CUP OF TEA
Received this in an email. Not sure who the author is...

A young woman went to her mother to tell her how hard life felt. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. She was tired of fighting and struggling and wanted to give up on her dreams.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high flame. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed a carrot, in the second she placed an egg, and in the last she placed a tea bag. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

Twenty minutes later she turned off the burners. She took the carrot out and placed it in a bowl. She pulled the egg out and placed it in another bowl. Then she poured the tea into a third bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see?"

"A Carrot, an egg, and tea," the daughter replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrot. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take the egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the tea. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does all this mean?"

Her mother explained that each of them had faced the same adversity: boiling hot water. Yet each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But, after being subjected to heat, it softened and became weak. The egg had once been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting in the boiling water, its insides became hardened. The tea was unique, however. After being immersed in boiling water, it had changed the water's color and taste.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you like the carrot, the egg or the tea? Do you seem strong like the carrot, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and lose your character and strength?

Are you the egg that starts with a soft, fluid center, but hardens with the heat? Does your shell look the same on the outside, but on the inside you become stiff and rigid?

Or are you like the tea, which actually changes the environment around it? When the water gets to be its hottest, tea releases its best...infusing the water with its most aromatic fragrance and flavor. If you are like the tea, when things are at their most intense, it is an opportunity for the strength of your character to come forward and change what's around you (not vice versa).

Today, may you have enough richness in life to keep you sweet and enough heat to bring out your boldest and best flavor!