It’s Not What Happens To You But How You Respond To It

 

Our lives are full of challenges and it’s how you respond to them that determines the outcome.

 

It is how you respond to things that happen to you that makes the difference.

 

It’s Not What Happens To You But How You Respond To It

 

You should welcome challenge …

without it there would be no reason to become more, do more or learn more.

 

I’m going to use an illustration I saw thanks to Aaron Rashkin:

 

A young woman went to her mother to let her know a little bit about her  life, and how things were tough for her.

The woman told her mother that she did not know how she was going to make it through all the challenges she was facing, and wanted to give up.

She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen stove and filled three pots with water.

 

In the first pot, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the third she placed ground coffee beans.

She then let the three pots sit and boil without saying a word.

 

In about twenty minutes, the woman 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 different bowl.

And then she ladled the coffee out and poured it in a bowl.

 

Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me – what do you see?”

 

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

 

Mother brought her daughter closer and asked her to feel the carrots.

She did and noted that they got soft.

 

She then asked her to take the egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

 

Finally, mother asked her daughter to smell and sip the coffee.

The daughter smiled as she smelled and tasted its rich aroma.

 

The daughter then asked, “What’s the point, mother?”

 

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity – boiling water – but 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.

 

“Which are you?” the older woman asked her daughter.

 

“When trials and adversity knock on your door, how do you respond?

Are you a carrot,

an egg,

or a coffee bean?”

 

Are you the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do you wilt, become soft and lose your strength?

 

Are you the egg that starts with a passive heart, but changes with the heat?

Do you have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a financial hardship or some other trial, have you become hardened and stiff?

Does your outer shell look the same, but on the inside, are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

 

Or, are you 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 become better and change the situation around you.

 

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

How do you handle adversity?

Like the CARROT, the EGG, OR the COFFEE BEAN?

It’s all about How You Respond !

 

It’s Not What Happens To You But How You Respond To It

 

Faced with challenges? Want things to change? … Click the Image below to see how I can help you

 

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