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Thursday, July 17, 2008

How Is Your Happiness Today?

A daughter came home one day and sat down with her mom in the kitchen. Her welcoming was over shadowed by her glum and morose nature. The mother asked her daughter what was wrong. The daughter responded with how everything had gone wrong, how hard life is, why do these things happen to me, and how she can't handle it anymore.

As the daughter started telling her story of her day the mother got up from the table and walked over to the cupboard and started to rummage and grab things; some carrots, eggs, and coffee beans. She then grabbed three pots, filled them with water, and placed them on the stove. While the mother filled each pot with one item, the daughter sat there looking at her in wonder.

Moments later, the mom emptied the pots out and sat by her daughter and saying, "Look at what has happened here."

The daughter looked down and saw the carrots, eggs, and coffee, "What do you mean?".

The mother looked at the food and said, "All of these items have gone through the same experience. All have been taken from a place, placed in boiling water, and have under gone a change."

The mother grabbed a fork and started mashing the carrots, "The carrots were put into the water which caused them to be soft and lame, when they used to be use solid and strong."
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She then grabbed an egg and started to crack and peel the shell, "This egg used to be smooth and soft on the insides, but since dealing with the water it has now become hard and like its guarded shell."

The mother then went to the coffee beans to filter and drain the water, "But these beans, when put with the water, had no effect on the beans. The water could not change the beans, but the beans changed the water and made coffee."

The mother set the food aside and grabbed her daughter's hand saying, "Which are you to be? What are you going to do? How are you going to let the world affected you? ...... Are you going to be a carrot and let the world weigh you down? Or are you going to be an egg, putting a hard shell around yourself till you are as hard inside as you are on the outside? Or, will you be like the coffee bean changing the world and the problems around you, not letting the world change who you are?"
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I hear this story and I wonder, "What am I?". How much do I let the troubles of my day affect me? How often do I dwell on a situation that was unfair or on a person who was so rude. Many things happen every day and most times I have no control over it. I want to be one of those people who is able to let everything slide off their back, to not be dragged down by the sad things that happen throughout the day, to always be able to see the important stuff at the end of the day.

I am a fairly happy person, usually able to smile and laugh at most things thrown my way, but I know that I have stewed in my emotions over something, cried over how unfair somethings are, or worked myself up over an uncontrollable situation and guess what..... IT NEVER DID ANY GOOD. Never, not once! If this action seems to have never worked for my problems, then you might be asking your self why have I done it so many times? Because I have never taught myself not too.

I know I am not the coffee bean, but I hope some day I can be. I hope that slowly I can start working on myself to be able to control my happiness. I want to be able to see disasters heading my way and really see new opportunities. How wonderful would it be to know that you will always see the good, the bigger picture, or what truly matters? That you are the captain of your happiness!

So hopefully, rather sooner than later, I will be strong too. I will be able to stay true to myself. I hope that I can remember this story the next time something troubling comes my way..... I hope that I can be a coffee bean.

27 comments:

  1. Yeah. Me too. Nice post. Reminds me of the Serenity Prayer which someone posted recently.
    God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

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  2. Wow! Way to get people thinking on a Friday morning!!! Very excellent. I am like you in that I so let things that I cannot change get me down. I am going to start striving to be a coffee bean too, maybe one day we can pair up to make an excellent cup of coffee! Have a great weekend!

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  3. I like this. I would want to make the best cup of coffee you ever tasted!

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  4. What a great story. I want to be a coffee bean too!

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  5. wow, what a great story. And you posted it right when I needed it. How did you know? Thanks for such great wisdom.

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  6. Thank you for posting this one. I definitely want to be a coffee bean myself...

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  7. Awesome awesome story!! It really makes you think. I'd like to be the coffee bean too and it's something I need to strive for.

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  8. What a great post. I am going to remember this story for my kids. I like to think of myself as the coffee bean, but I know I have a little bit of the egg as well. Thanks for the uplift.

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  9. What a wonderful story. I'll have to remember that one to share with my boys when they are older. :)

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  10. That's a wonderful story. I wish I'd heard it 30 years ago.

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  11. How inspirational. Be the coffee bean. That idea works for me!

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  12. I want to print this out and frame it as a reminder to myself!

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  13. Wow what a awesome story! I needed that today! Thanks! XOXO

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  14. Great post, thanks. Very, very, true.

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  15. Much better than the "make lemonade" analogy. Thank you.

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  16. I think maybe I'll stop by this post once an hour or so and remember to stop whining about how frustrated I am.

    Thanks!

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  17. Great story, I too want to be a coffee bean
    xx

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  18. goose bumps...did you write this for me??? ;) (have you read my posts lately???) i needed this uplifting post, thanks.

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  19. Good thing it wasn't my kitchen, or it would have been saltine crackers, chickpeas and oranges!

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  20. Great post. Do you mind if I link to it on my blog? It's too good not to share...

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  21. Love that analogy.

    I never imagined I'd aspire to be a coffee bean.

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  22. Great post. I hope I can achieve coffee bean status at some point too.

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  23. Thank you thank you. I am having an especially mopey weekend. A campaign that I have been working on and counting on for the next year's worth of income just crashed and burned and I am scared and worried and sick. ANd what good does that do?
    This came right when I needed it...

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  24. I love this. I have seen it before in an email. I hope I will remember it when my dramatic first child becomes a teen!

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  25. Hi! I've come by way of Miss Nelson! This was a great post, and by cooincidence, something I needed to be reminded of. :) The rice looks wonderful! I'll be back again I'm sure! Nice to 'meet' you!

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  26. Dude. VERY deep. I would hope that I was a coffee bean (seeing as how I drink so much of it) but I'm probably a carrot/bean combo. Sounds pretty gross, eh?

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  27. I thought I was pretty happy.
    Then I read this.
    And now I see myself as a mushy carrot.
    With a new goal:
    Must. be. a. coffee. bean.
    Who knew?
    Seriously, thanks for sharing.
    I needed to read this today.
    And quit my whining!

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