A few weeks ago, I attended a class and the class leader read a piece entitled “Are You a Carrot, Egg, or Coffee Bean?”. The piece was meant for personal reflection, but I began to wonder if this same premise could be used to gauge the condition of a lodge?
The essay is about a young girl who feels her life is hopeless and confides in her mother on how she feels, that she can’t go on with life. Her mother takes her to the kitchen and boils three pots of water. In each pot, the mother places carrots, eggs, and ground coffee beans. Once each one has finished boiling the mother places each into a bowl.
She told her daughter to touch the carrots. The daughter noticed that the once hard vegetable was now soft. The mother then told her to reach into the other bowl and begin to peel the egg. The daughter noticed how the once liquid center of the egg which had been protected by its hard shell was now hardened. Her mother told her to pick up the third bowl and smell the coffee. The girl smiled when she picked up the bowl and smelled the aroma of the now freshly brewed coffee.
After looking at each bowl, the daughter confused asked her mother what the point of this display was.
Her mother told her daughter, “…no one knows how they will react until tested by adversity and difficult situations.” She continued, “Some people, like the once hard carrot, will turn soft when troubles come. Others who seem to be fragile will toughen when things get difficult. Some people are like the coffee, when the tough times come, they…
