Here is a great story I found that describes Stress and how you handle. It is great story that helps you identify you personal stress coping strategy. Here it goes…
The Carrots, the Egg and the Coffee.
A young woman went to her grandmother and told her
about her life and how things were so hard for
her right now with the economy the way it is, her boyfriend,
her parents, the job, her girlfriends, her car, etc.
She just didn’t know how she was going to make it
and wanted to give up.
She was tired of fighting and struggling with LIFE in
general.
It seemed as one problem was solved a new one just
popped up out of nowhere.
Her grandmother took her to the kitchen and told her to have a seat.
She then filled three pots with water.
In the first pot, she placed some raw carrots.
In the second she placed eggs and in the last pot she placed
ground coffee beans.
Then she started boiling them, all at the same time.
She sat down with the young woman and let them sit and boil without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she got up and 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.
Then turning to her granddaughter, she asked, “Tell me what
do you see honey?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the granddaughter replied.
The grandmother brought her closer and asked her
to “feel” the carrots and tell her how they FELT.
She did and she noted that they were now very ‘soft.’
She then asked her to take an egg and break it.
She did and after pulling off the shell, she observed the
hard-boiled egg.
Finally, the old woman asked her to sip the coffee.
The granddaughter smiled, as the young woman tasted its rich
aroma. The granddaughter then asked. “So Grandma, what’s the
point? What are you trying to tell me? Who cares if the carrots are now soft and the egg is hard?”
Her grandmother then explained to her that each of these
objects had faced the same adversity–boiling water–but each item had reacted differently.
The carrot went in FIRM and 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 granddaughter. “Carrots, Eggs, or Coffee?”
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So which are you
Here’s my point.
“When adversity knocks on your door, and it will, how are you
going to respond?
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean Doc?”
Think of it like this: Which one do I want to be like?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain
and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose
my strength?
Am I like 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, a staff member leaving unexpectedly 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 a
hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean?
The bean that 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 hours are the darkest and trials are
their greatest do you elevate to another level?