Reflection

As we go about each day it’s easy to get caught up in our own thoughts and emotions neglecting to see how and why things are happening around us. How we cope and release those emotions emits energy that flows on to those around us having a lasting impact. Today, when things don’t go your way or as expected, consider how your reaction matters more than what happens to you and how you can change the way you see or respond to it.

Just as Martin Luther King, Jr. said “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” beauty too can be found in adversity, we just need to be prepared to find it and draw it out, bringing light to the darkness.

Who are you?

Do you let adversity make you weak and break you down rather than pushing you to grow and strengthen? Or do you allow adversity to empower you, equipping you with the skills to turn it in to something beautiful?

“Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the boiled eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. ‘Daughter, what do you see?’

‘Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,’ she hastily replied.

‘Look closer,’ he said, ‘and touch the potatoes.’ She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

‘Father, what does this mean?’ she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.

However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

‘Which are you,’ he asked his daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?’

Today is a new day, you are unique and precious with the ability to create beauty out of everything you touch.