Becoming

A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot.

It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain.

~ Mildred W. Struven

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Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee.

Upon hearing him complain about how difficult his life was, she put three pots of water on the stove. When the water came to a boil, she placed carrots in the first pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third. After boiling for 20 minutes, she asked him what he saw.

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," he replied.

She brought him closer and asked him to feel the carrots (they were soft), the eggs (they were hard), and to taste the coffee (it was good!)

She 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: after they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

~ condensed from unknown source

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