How to handle adversity: Carrot, Eggs and Coffee

Someone mailed this to me and I absolutely loved it. It's such a beautiful and inspirational message; something that really made my day.


Carrot, Eggs and Coffee:

 

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 insides 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.
 
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!!!!!!

 

10 second reading: Motivation III

I read these inspiring 10 second stories on Paulo Coelho's blog and they really inspired me. Remember "Motivation is like bathing, you've got to do it everyday because it won't last forever."


* Happy Reading *

 Careful with your work
As a boy, Abin-Alsar overheard a conversation between his father and a dervish.
“Careful with your work”, said the dervish. “Think of what future generations will say about you.”
“So what?”, replied his father, “When I die, everything shall end, and it will not matter what they say.”
Abin-Alsar never forgot that conversation.
During his whole life, he made an effort to do good, to help people and go about his work with enthusiasm.
He became well-known for his concern for others.
When he died, he left behind a great number of things which improved the quality of life in his town.
On his tombstone, he had the following epitaph engraved:
“A life which ends with death, is a life not well spent.”


Source:  http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2011/06/16/arabs/

From Paulo Coelho's Manual of the Warrior of Light:

A Warrior of Light needs patience and speed at the same time.
The two biggest mistakes of a strategy are
a) to act prematurely
b) to let the opportunity pass by.
To avoid making these mistakes, the warrior copes with each situation as if it were unique, and applies no formulas, prescriptions or the opinions of others.
Caliph Moauiyat asked Omar Ben Al-Aas what was the secret of his great political skill:
“I have never gotten involved in any matter without first studying the way out;
“on the other hand, I have never become involved and wanted to get out right away,” was his answer.


What is treason?
Walking down the street, a man asked: “aren’t we all children of the same Eternal Father?”
The multitude agreed. And the man went on: “and if that is so, why do we betray our brother?”
A boy who was watching asked his father: “what does betray mean?”
“It means to trick your companion in order to gain a certain advantage.”
“And why do we betray our companion?” insisted the boy.
“Because in the past somebody began all that. Ever since then, nobody knows how to stop the wheel. We are always betraying or being betrayed.”
“Then I won’t betray anyone,” said the boy.

And so he did. He grew up and suffered a lot during his life, but kept his promise.
His children suffered less and endured fewer hardships.
His grandchildren did not suffer at all.

.

Cost of grief is finally paid

It hurts already,

No one’s on my side,

Insanity is steady,

Farewell; all abide,

All alone, with no one to hold,

Me, when I’m breaking into tiny folds,

A million pieces, all shattered away,

True to my word, got nothing to say.

With a cold expression, I arrogantly stride,

To mask the tearful devastated pride.

Tears and fears all clawing away,

Inside, outside, keeping at bay.

Just enough for me to survive,

To lead on a miserable meaningless life.

Meteors striking, mind going absurd,

A voice that won’t again ever be heard,

But history will never be repeated,

I will never again be cheated,

I was led on, I made mistakes,

Won’t fall again in the seamless lakes,

Won’t let fate take its course,

Won’t let destiny play again hoarse,

This time I’ll win, be on the other side,

This I’ll fight, and seek those who hide.

For after all this time I finally learned to strife,

To walk alone by myself in life.

Through darkness and light, it’s my parade,

Where I’ll be when the cost of grief is finally paid.

The perfect ending

       Have you noticed how sometimes, we all need that bubbly loquacious friend who laughs no matter how bad the situation is, and never gives up. The times may get trying, and at times, you may feel like dying but to be honest, death is never the answer to questions. You will encounter countless obstacles in this little journey we call life and giving up may seem like the best option at the time, but only three words ‘never give up’. I know it is easier said than done but what we’ve got to realize here is that we are capable of anything. The only thing we’ve got to do is persuade ourselves to do it. Dissuading ourselves will not do us any good, nor will it lead to the ‘lived happily ever after’ ending that we strive so hard to achieve.

‘and she died due to suicide’ wouldn’t be a very good ending now would it? But ‘she had lost almost everything, yet she found the courage to stand up and get back in the rat race’ sounds so much better. We all have that little seed of courage inside us, all we need to do is find it and muster it.

 An excerpt from Paulo Coelho’s Manual of the warrior of light:

The Warrior of Light holds the sword in his hands. He is the one who decides what he is going to do, and what he will not do in any circumstances. There are moments when life leads him to a crisis: he is forced to divorce himself from things he has always loved.
Then the Warrior reflects. He assesses whether he is fulfilling God’s will or if he is acting through egoism. If separation is really the path he must follow, he accepts it without complaining.
However, if this separation is provoked by the perversity of others, then he is implacable in his answer.
The Warrior possesses the art of the blow and the art of forgiveness. He knows how to use both with equal skill.

        Often, people are the root cause behind these upheavals in our lives. Times change, people change and situations change. So why shouldn’t we move on too? Why should we aimlessly wander in the past when we can focus on the future by living in the present with no regrets whatsoever. Why should we live with the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ that have us dangling on the edge of the cliff, when we can grasp the rope firmly and pull ourselves up, to safety?

       Unfortunately, we ourselves give people the ability to hurt us and taint us by mere words. But why do we do this? Why do we give importance to people who take us for granted and take for granted those who give us importance? Why do we think we let ourselves down when people break our trust? Shouldn’t they be the ones deluding in sorrow and guilt? The truth is, they should be the ones feeling sorry, not us; yet we still blame ourselves as a result of others’ actions. Is it because we don’t believe they were capable of such destruction or is it because we are too marred by the shock of seeing them destruct their impressions, that we created? Why is it that we are hurt by what others did or do? Shouldn’t we discern ourselves from such beings? We are after all capable of so much, then why limit ourselves to please others?

“Be who you are, and say what you feel because who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

Don’t let anything or anyone for that matter; stop you from living your dream. What’s meant to be will be-if it’s in your destiny, you will get it, no matter what. Never forget the fact that everyone is capable of achieving greatness; we just need to know where that greatness will be achieved. As long as you remember that, you won’t lose sight of your focus and success will kiss your footsteps where ever you go, so that your story can have the perfect ending...

 

Motivation II

Since this is motivation week, I thought I'd share some more inspirational stories that I recently read. All credit to the respective authors for writing them and brightening the moods and inspiring the readers to go on. Remember "motivation is like bathing, you've got to do it everyday because it won't last forever."
Smile.
Adios till then.

THE BRICK 

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.

He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! - it smashed Into the Jag's shiny black side door! SCREECH..!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"

"Please, mister, please. . . I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!" Pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE -a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. . . Some bricks are softer than others. Feel for the bricks of life coming at to you. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has positive answers. 

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.
While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.

Motivating yourself

This was something I read on Paulo Coelho's blog. It changed my perspective and the way I was looking at things.



To the warriors of light, there is no such thing as impossible love.
They don’t allow themselves to be intimidated by silence, or by rejection.
They know that – behind the icy mask people wear – there is a heart of fire.
That is why the warriors risk more than others.
They tirelessly seek love – even if this means hearing, many times over, the word ‘no’, returning home defeated, feeling rejected in body and soul.
Warriors don’t allow themselves to be discouraged. Without love, living has no meaning.

Hasta la Vista Exams

Hey everyone.

Finally holidays are here. My AS exams have finished and the creativity and inspiration [Thank God] are at it's peak right now. But, yeah there's always a 'but' to damper things right? I know. Anyways,  I have been trying to find ways to bust my boredom. I know I'm probably the only person who got bored the day her exams ended. But what can I say, I can't help it. So I've decided to finally catch up on all the Supernatural, LOST, Heroes, Castle and White Collar seasons. haha yeah, I've also decided to increase my reading summer list. This time, I want to experiment with new genres and writers. What do you guys think?

Answers from the world.

How can you make yourself feel better, when you're feeling low to the extremes? How can you control your rage when you want to take it out at the world? What can you do when frustration and anger and the darkest emotions known to the human race strike at you and ensnare you in their jaws? What can you do when the worst battle your fighting, is the one with your own mind? When even your subconsciousness decides to ignore you. When it's feels like your falling in a seamless pit and when the world constricts you binding you, as it's victim, so that it can hunt you down, in it's own merciless way? What can you do to escape the insanity that rumbles on the edge of the plate? The twirling madness that has no escape? The deafening din that roars infinitely? The paradoxical tricks your mind plays? The utopia that shatters? The nightmare that never ends? The plunge in the icy waters of abyss-land that slowly, desiccate you, turning you into a lifeless body that breathes, yet does not live, that eats yet takes no pleasure in it, that has forsaken everything mundane enough to be called human?
HOW CAN YOU ESCAPE IT ALL?

Humans really have no idea, how much their words can mean to others. Nor how much their words can affect them. That is why I believe the humans are one of the most vile and nasty creatures to walk this Earth. For they give solace then turn away leaving others in despair. They comfort yet they themselves become the cause of others' grieves. They scare the darkness away, yet they carry darkness with them. They are paradoxical creatures really. You never know what to expect from them and most importantly, you never know whether or not you can trust them. Solely driven by instinct and moods, these creatures, are unexpected to the core. You could find you know all about them, yet a life time later, they may still surprise you with their uncanny skills. You may think of them as strong, yet in the most unexpected times, the strongest of them may fall weak and give in to tears.

I'm puzzled by the human mind,

for in it, peace, I cannot find,

Though I have jewels on my crown,

yet, take not off that frightful frown,

that haunts my nights,

and turns off lights,

uncannily though it, prolongs the sight.

The human mind keeps me intact,

yet it is the reason that, I, in fact,

am called insignificantly insane,

for trying to battle death's lane,

by myself, and trying to plunge in the plane,

where it's horrors, strike at best

and lay to silence all the rest.

Oh fallen one !

Stand up, oh fallen one.

You'll have strength to bear,

The pain of effort,

Because, life’s not always fair,

Inspiration, yes inspiration,

Comes but with a price,

You must adhere with,

It, and look past all the lies,

But, remember, oh fallen one,

You once stood a long,

With every piece inside you,

Intact, when you were very strong,

Find that man in you, again,

We’ll beseech every side,

And peace will be restored with,

Amended, now that pride,

Come with me, oh fallen one,

The journey won’t be brisk,

But once the lingering illness fades,

The path won’t be a risk,

We’ll journey, past it all,

And you’ll overcome the fall,

For so will end the tale of how,

we conquered at last,

For so will the end the tale of how,

We overcame the past.

A monster you created

I have lost every ounce of confidence I had,

And this truth now hurts real bad.

I have been stripped bare of my pride,

And for avenging this, inside me a fire ignites.

I have been hurt to the core,

My existence and self esteem forcefully explored, 

And have evaporated in thin air,

Life is just unbearably unfair.

Every little victory I achieved,

Is now believed, to have never conceived.

Every raw form of good I was,

has impeccably disappeared in midair because,

I have been assaulted,

I have been trifled with,

And this has led to my destruction.

Enjoy! For this was your personal instruction.

I want to cry badly, but the tears don’t come out.

I want to screech madly, but I’m unable to shout.

The biggest pain has been to my broken pride,

And there seems no one to be by my side.

My utopia has now been destroyed, along with my soul.

My dreams have been crushed, at the worst possible toll.

I can only despair now, but a fire is burning already in my eyes.

I will fight past every trap and entrap you in my own lies.

Fight me? Try your best, but I’m a monster you created.

I will penetrate past your weaknesses for I am a hybrid of all you ever hated.