And a hero comes along....

I shall pass through this life but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again."

....Etienne de Grellet

Lecture of a Lifetime

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A couple of years ago, when I was going through a very difficult time, a friend of mine emailed me the story below. It was such a special story I kept it all this time.

Tonight, after watching the attached video, I remembered the story and I thought I would share both with you.

The man in this video is my new hero.

Sometimes hero's come in the form of a firefighter, or a policeman, or a good doctor. Or sometimes they come in the form of Randy Pausch.

I hope you will take a few moments to listen to the video and to read the story...as both contain words of inspiration....and if nothing else they will make you think. They sure have made Me think!

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 a boil.

In the first, the Mom placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and 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 do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied.

The Mom brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.

The daughter did, and she noted that they were soft.

The Mom then asked her to take an egg and break it.

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

Finally, the Mom asked her 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--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 the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?

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

Are you the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did you have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, you've become hardened and stiff? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and 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 get better and change the situation around you.

Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? Do you count your blessings, not your problems?