Are You an Egg, a Carrot, or a Coffee Bean?

Everyone experiences trial and hardship, but the difference between you and me is how we choose to respond to the boiling waters. I am an egg. I go into the situation with a go with the flow sort of attitude, but as troubling waters threaten to engulf me I turn hard. Although my insides have changed, looking from the outside l remain the same. I put on my “everything’s okay” mask and hide behind my shell. I think that maybe if I just push this away and not process it yet it will all go away. When trouble comes my heart becomes hard and I put up a barrier not letting anyone in, in fear they may hurt me again. On the outside I try to make it look like I have it all put together when in reality nothing could be farther from the truth. I hurt. I experience pain, rejection and loss even though I try to hide behind what the surface suggests. My goal though is to be more like the coffee bean. I want to be someone that changes the hard times for the better, or someone that can find the single light amidst the darkest storms. I want to be the one that doesn’t let the things they go through define them. When the going gets tough I want to be the one that rises to the next level despite of the circumstances I am put in. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A woman is like a teabag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water!”  Your moments of greatness may just be in the times that are the hardest. It may come when the heat is insane and you think you just can't stand it anymore.  The coffee bean changes the the boiling water into something even better. It takes the heat that is meant to destroy and uses it for good. Sometimes being strong is the only option you have left and in those moments you have to decide am I going to be; An egg hiding behind the surface hardening each second, a carrot strong going into things but softening under pressure, or a coffee bean and rise to every occasion, changing the situation and not letting the situation change you. Which will it be?