I read this article on REALITY once.. and I had to share it..

not sure who the author is.. yet I hope it touches you like it touched me!

One of the traits of current television programming is the various series of “reality” shows. While I am not sure how much any of these really depict the “reality” of anyone except a select few, the trend does raise the question: Are you in touch with your own reality?

Your reality might be that you are where you want to be in life, and you want more of the same.

Or at the other end of the spectrum, your reality might be a severe financial hardship that you do not know how you are going to recover from.

Or your reality might be somewhere in between these two extremes.

Whatever your reality is, be aware that it is only human nature to want good things and be comfortable.

If you don’t have that, then that is what you want. If you already have that, then you want more of that.

But the REALITY of the situation is,

some say, “what it is is what it is, and you cannot do anything about it.”

The problem with that picture of reality is that it is the most blatant LIE on the face of the planet.

If you do not like where you are in life, then the power to change that is within your grasp. There are rarely any exceptions to this rule, yet people would have you believe otherwise, perhaps only because they themselves have already long ago given up on the dreams and goals they had in their younger years.

The following is a story which I would like to share with you to further drive home this point:

The Reality

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.

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 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 a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which are you? 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, have you 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.

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.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. You can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and learn from them to make your future better.

What is your reality?? Leave a comment below.. are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Keep Smiling,
Shalonda Gordon

P.S. I was given the chance to motivate a room of 1500+ people.. Click The Button below to see the 1 technique that allows me to keep control of my future.