THE CARROT, EGG, AND COFFEE

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 when one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen, 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. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

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.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. 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 am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I 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 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 hardened heart? Or am I 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? The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best~of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you will the one smiling when everyone around you is crying. May we all be COFFEE!!!

#Kip Smiln'

JUST A TIP

Permit me to give you these words of wisdom sent to me. It will also be a great blessing to you. Please read and meditate on them:

o ON EARNING: Never depend on single income. Make investment to create a second chance.

o ON SPENDING: If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.

o ON SAVINGS: Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.

o ON TAKING RISK: Never test the depth of a river with both feet.

o ON INVESTMENT: Do not put all eggs in one basket.

o ON EXPECTATIONS: Honesty is a very expensive gift. Do not expect it from cheap people.

o IF YOU are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. Past is a waste paper. Present is a newspaper and future is a question paper.

o WHEN bad things happen in your life you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you or you can let it strengthen you.

o EMPTY pockets teach you a million things in life but full pockets spoil you in a million ways.

o OUR EYES are in the front because it is more important to look ahead than to look back.

o WE USED a pencil when we were small but now we use pens. Do you know why? Because, mistakes in childhood can be erased, but it is hard to erase mistakes as an adult.

So read and write carefully otherwise life will be a tissue paper. Hope you have benefited. Benefit others.

#KipSmiln'

COPY & PASTE

A famous inspirational speaker said, "Best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman, who wasn’t my wife." The Audience was in shock and silence. He then added: “She was my mother.” They audience all roared in lauther, clapping for him as they gave him a standing ovation.

A very daring husband tried to crack this at home. After dinner, he said loudly to his wife in the kitchen; "Best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman, who wasn’t my wife." Standing for a moment, trying to recall the second line of that speaker, by the time he gained his senses, he was on a hospital bed, recovering from burns of hot water!

Moral Lesson: Don’t Copy, if you can’t Paste.

#KipSmiln'

MAMA OLDIE

An old woman boarded a bus to Lagos from Calabar and told the driver, "Driver, if we reach Benin, abeg tell me.” The driver nodded and then she shouted again for everyone in the bus to hear, "My children, una hear wetin I tell am?” Everybody responded ''Yes mama, no problem".

On the long journey to Lagos, almost everybody slept off and they forgot about this old woman’s request. After several hours of driving and almost close to Lagos, with Benin about 4hours behind, the old woman asked, "Driver, you never reach Benin?"

"Ooooh!" the driver exclaimed, "Mama Benin, is like 4 hours behind us".

"Ah!” the woman shouted and started crying, "Take me back to Benin, abeg I no wan wahala o!"

Considering the age of the woman, the passengers agreed that the driver should just satisfy her and turn back to Benin. On getting to Benin, the driver came down, opened the door and told the woman she was in Benin. The woman simply opened her hand bag, brought out 2 tablets of Panadol and swallowed them with water.

She then smiled and said, "Thank you my son. Na my daughter say when I reach Benin make I take two tablets of Panadol. I don take am. Oya make we dey go Lagos..."

If you were in the bus when this happened, what will you do?

#KipSmiln'

WHAT YOU HAVE, NOT WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE.

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said:

"I am blind, please help."

There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognised his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. "I wrote:

"Today is a beautiful day; but I cannot see it."

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign reminded people how fortunate they were to have their sight. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

It's a beautiful thing to see a person smiling. But even more beautiful if you are the reason for the smile! Faith is not about everything turning out OKAY. Faith is about being OKAY no matter how things turn out.

#KipSmiln'

THE LINCOLN STORY

On his first day in office, as President of United States of America, Abraham Lincoln entered to give his inaugural address. One man stood up, he was a rich aristocrat and said, "Mr Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family…" The whole senate laughed, they thought they had made a fool of Lincoln, but certain people are made of a totally different kettle.

Lincoln looked at the man directly in the eyes and said, "Sir, I know that my father used to make shoes for your family and there will be many others here who he made shoes for, because he made shoes the way nobody else can. He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes because he poured his whole soul into making them. I want to ask you, have you any complaint, because I also know how to make shoes to? If You Have Any Complaint I can make you another pair of shoes. But as far as i know, nobody has ever complained about my father's shoes. He was a genius, a great creator and i am proud of my father.”

The whole senate was struck dumb. They could not understand what kind of man Abraham Lincoln was. He was proud because his father did his job so well that not even a single complaint had ever been heard.

Remember, no one can hurt you without your Consent. It is not what happens to you that hurt you, rather, it is our response and approach towards it that hurts us. There are people out there whose only job is to hurt others. Don't give them a reason to have so much work on their hands toying with your mund.

#KipSmiln'