How are carrots, eggs, coffee, and tai chi related? First
a story I got via email from my friend Melanie Hirsch.
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.
May we all be COFFEE!!!
Tai chi has helped me become soft when I need to be and
hard for brief moments when necessary, so I could learn to
change my surroundings. Tai chi's spiritual nature allows
you to blend with the water of daily life, be it a rushing
torrent or a boiling pot. It would take too many words to
explain it better than this simple and elegant story, if I
even could. It's better to experience it.
----------------------------------------------------
posted by John Crewdson - http://www.beginningtaichi.net
Experience Free Bursts of Tai Chi(TM) click here -
http://tinyurl.com/3n9zj8
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