A triathlete went to her coach and told her about her training 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 all the training, the pain, the early hours and fighting her body. She was struggling in the water, hurting on the bike and, suffering during the run. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her coach 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 triathlete, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

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

Her coach brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.

The coach then asked the triathlete to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the coach asked the triathlete to sip the coffee. The triathlete smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The triathlete then asked, "What does it mean, coach?"

Her coach 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 triathlete. "When things get hard, 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 struggle, some pain or some other trial, have you become hardened and stiff? Does your shell look the same, but on the inside is it 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?

Or is the the moral of this story that we all need to spend more time in the Hot Tub?

Anthony Epp
www.ironcopsbc.com