subject: Leading Through Adversity [print this page] Leading Through Adversity Leading Through Adversity
Adversity is another way to measure the greatness in YOU! In life we all go through some painful moments where our very best is revealed if we truly endure and go through it with courage. According to Proverbs 24:10, "If you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small". And there is a popular saying that, "you are like a tea bag, not worth much until you have been through some hot water". Let me illustrate this further by narrating the story below:
Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.
The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes, he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked, "Daughter, what do you see?"
"Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look closer," he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs, and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity, the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
"Which are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
From the above story, we can see that in life, things happen around us and things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us. You are meant to lead through adversity and never get swallowed by it. The self-leadership you exercise while going through adversity will tell whether you will come out the other side as potato, an egg, or a coffee bean.
Whenever you encounter any obstacle, just sit back with courage because it's another opportunity for you to step higher in life. In fact, it makes you discover things about yourself that you never knew. You also find out what you believe. Challenges make you stretch. They make you go beyond the norm. The adversities you meet on your way to success are meant to bring out a champion out of you, not the other way round.
As Martin Luther King declared, "The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenges and controversy." See every adversity as an opportunity to bring out the best in you.
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