Sunday, February 12, 2012
Carrot, Egg, and Coffee Beans

On one fine day, a little girl complained to her father about her tough life.

The father happened to be a chef. After hearing what his daughter’s got to say, he smiled and brought her into the kitchen. He then poured water into 3 pots of the same size. A carrot was put in the first pot, an egg in the second one, and coffee beans in the last pot. Turning on the stove, the father heated the pots together at the same time.

The little girl stood beside him, having no idea on what her father was up to.

20 minutes gone by and the father turned off the stove. The father then took out the carrot and egg, placing them separately on the plates. The coffee was then poured into a cup. He said to his daughter “My dear, tell me what can you see.”

The little girl replied “What else could they be? A carrot, an egg, and coffee of course.”

The father explained “Well then, try and feel them. See what has changed.”

The little girl grabbed a fork and pierced it into the carrot, it seemed that the carrot became softer. Then, she took the egg, knocked it onto the table and felt that it was harder. Lastly, she grabbed the cup of coffee and had a few gulps. “The carrot is much more softer now, but the egg gone harder instead. But I like the coffee, it smells so fine now. But father, what’s the purpose of this?”

Her father carefully explained “Three of these items were boiled at the same time using pots of the same size. But they eventually turned out to be different. If you were to choose, which one of them do you think you are?”

The little girl looked puzzled and paused for a few moments.

The father continued explaining “What I meant was, when you were challenged by hardship in life, do you get softer like the carrot, grew harder like an egg, or be like the coffee beans that was never changed yet being able of affecting its environment? In a nutshell, you must grow up to be a strong warrior in life. Let yourself and your environment be more beautiful and meaningful.”



Postscript:

I trust that we’d all live the way we want. But eventually, there will be something that is somehow inevitable in life. Some may fail and give up upon a challenge, and some may achieve growth and improvement over a hardship.

There are times we may feel that we’re living freely without a single worry. However, a sunny day could turn dark and a peaceful city could be tortured by disasters.

We’re often unhappy when we find ourselves troubled by problems in life. But please remember that after a rain comes a rainbow, after a disaster comes appreciation and gratitude.

Ikeda Sensei once said “Through training, our life experience will change.” We must not stop ourselves from growing. We could never win by just sitting there and not wanting to overcome challenges. Children learn how to walk when they fall.

As we complain, we’re actually multiplying our sorrow, which eventually would bring us towards the negative side. Whenever we run away from problems, they will somehow, be able to hunt us again somewhere else. This is why our mentor had always taught us to stand strong in front of the challenges in life. When we grow stronger, we don’t only live for ourselves but contribute for the others as well. Remind yourself that your story and experience could encourage the people around you to overcome their problems just like you. Be the ‘coffee’ written in the article that brings the aroma all around.

Please be aware that problems exist for the sake of our growth. If we never take a step forward, we may never get pass it and continue on our journey. As Ikeda Sensei’s disciples, we must march forward courageously and hopefully for the sake of our Future Division and also everyone around us.

Let’s be an outstanding person that could strive along our mentor on the journey of kosen-rufu!

(Material For JD PICs)


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Written at 10:14 PM by Paper Pilot.