Be The Bean

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming it.”

                                                                                                                                                                                              -Helen Keller

One of my favorite stories about adversity :

Adversity always changes us at our very core.  A daughter complained to her father about being tired of always struggling with problem after problem.  Her father took her to the kitchen and filled three pots with water.  In one pot he placed carrots, in another, eggs, and in the last, ground coffee beans.  He let them sit and boil.

After a while, he put the carrots, eggs, and coffee in separate bowls.  Turning to her, he asked, “Darling, what do you see?”

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

     He explained that each of the items had faced the same adversity – boiling water – but each had reacted differently.  The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but after being subjected to the boiling water, it became soft and weak.  The egg went into the water fragile-its thin outer shell protecting the liquid interior.  But after sitting in the boiling water, its insides hardened.  The ground coffee beans were different from the other two, however.  Instead of being changed by the boiling water, they changed the water.
     The man then asked his daughter, “When adversity knocks on your door, which are you?”  So the question to all of us is – How does adversity affect you?  Does it cause you to become soft and weak?  Does it make you hard and immovable?  Or do YOU change the adversity?
“Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them.  The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater their power to harm us.” -Voltaire
     So exactly how should we be when we face adversity?  When I think about my own life and times I have faced adversity, I realize this : Sometimes I was like the carrot…Sometimes like the egg…BUT I ALWAYS ended up like the coffee beans.  The truth is…we don’t know how we’ll react to adversity, especially when it blindsides us…when it hits us and stops us dead in our tracks…we don’t know.  I’m telling you…It’s OK.  You can be hard and immovable…you can be weak and soft.  It really just depends on what adversity is before you at the time. You’re allowed to be what you need to be…But NEVER NEVER NEVER lose hope…NEVER GIVE UP.  It is amazing the strength God gives us to overcome adversity.  I have a favorite saying that is often up on the walls of my gym : “I’m never down…I’m either up…or getting up.”  So if you’re a carrot right now…or an egg…it doesn’t matter…As long as you realize you are not alone and adversity is on your path to make you stronger…Now get up…get up…get up…and MAKE yourself be…a coffee bean 🙂
“When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life you have a thousand reasons to smile.” – Unknown
“I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” – Philippians 4:13

 

One thought on “Be The Bean

  1. Amy Haldeman says:

    Anthony ~ I cannot even express to you how this touches my heart and brings tears to my eyes. I will never EVER forget when you sent this to me 4 years ago when adversity knocked on my door. I was the carrot ~ always thought of myself as strong and then I hit that boiling water and it hurt so deep and changed me forever. As a mom I would do anything to protect my children ~ anything. When Tyler was diagnosed with diabetes I knew I couldn’t do anything to take it away from him. I felt helpless ~ and that is a horrible feeling. It seems like after 4 years things should be easier, but they’re not. Every day is a new challenge with diabetes ~ every day. His blood sugar is high – then it’s low – he gives insulin – he forgets to give insulin – he can’t concentrate in school if his numbers are off – he exercises and everything changes – he has high blood pressure now and has to take medicine – he’s not growing and may have celiac disease – I have to wake him up in the middle of the night to check his blood sugar and make him eat so he doesn’t crash ~ where does it end?! But that’s how I feel – then there’s Tyler who’s the coffee that changed the water. He’s the one directly affected by this adversity. There has not been one day at any moment that he has complained about all that he has to deal with – honestly not one. In the hospital he simply asked WHY this had to happen to him (which of course brought tears to my eyes). But since then (and he was only 8) he has been so strong. He’s the one who has to prick his finger 8 times a day, change out infusion sets every 2 days, think about everything he puts in his mouth, wear an insulin pump 24 hours a day, feel like crap when he’s low and when he’s high and remember to take his blood pressure medication every day. He’s MY hero!! He is NOT going to let this take him down. He makes me want to change the water!! How does he do it?! His strength amazes me. It has brought us closer as a family. Anyone who knows my three children knows how connected they are with each other. It has given me strength I never knew I had ~ I feel like as a family we can make it through anything now ~ together!! Things happen for a reason ~ sometimes it takes a while to figure out that reason. I’ve been able to be there for other moms being faced with a new overwhelming diagnosis of diabetes and Tyler has been there to show young kids ~ they too can live a normal life, play sports and do all the things they’ve always been able to do. We will continue to fight and search for a cure. But in the meantime we will appreciate EVERY day. I will appreciate EVERY day and EVERY moment I have with my family. There is hope and we will never give up!! Christ does strengthen us – with HIM, faith, hope, and love we will survive. So…..we will show life we have a thousand things to smile about!!

    Thank you Anthony for sharing this story and helping me dig deep and find the strength within myself to overcome this adversity.

    ~Amy

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