Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Recently I read this anecdotal story on Facebook. I'm sharing here as food for thought:

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so difficult 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 because it seemed whenever one problem was solved, a new one arose. 

Quietly the mother led her daughter to the kitchen and filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. 

The mother 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 do you see?" 

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied with a confused giggle. 

The mother brought her daughter closer and asked her to feel the carrots — when she did, she noted that they were soft.  

The mother then asked her daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.  

Finally, the mother asked her daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. 

The daughter then sighed and asked, "What's the point, mother?"  

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. 

But each of them 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 with a thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior; however, after sitting through the boiling water, the inside became hardened.
• The ground coffee beans were unique. After they were immersed in the boiling water, they 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?" 

Which are YOU? How do YOU handle adversity?

• Like the carrot that seems strong, but with heat and adversity, wilts and becomes soft losing strength?
• Like the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but hardens with heat even though the outer shells looks the same?
• Or like the coffee bean, able to change the hot water, changing the very circumstance that brought adversity. When the water gets hot, the coffee bean releases the fragrance and flavor. When the hours are the darkest and trials are the greatest, able elevate to another level? When coffee beans are at their "worst", they get better and change the situation around them.  

Declaration of Independence in My Own Life

Today is July 4th, commemorating the Declaration of Independence by our founding fathers in 1776 in response to a tyrannical British king. The declaration alone did not achieve independence; it simply was a declaration, a line drawn in the sand with a cry of "ENOUGH!!!". The Declaration of Independence was a battle cry. After which The United States faced the hard and daunting task to FIGHT for freedom and liberty, paying dearly with pain, agony, blood and life. Seven years later, in 1783, the United States won the Revolutionary War and was granted Freedom and achieved Liberty.

As I reflect on this historical moment in time, I reflect also on declarations of independence in my own personal life. As I declare ENOUGH, I face the daunting task to fight through fear, habits and myths toward change, growth, freedom, healing and health. My battle doesn't END when I make a declaration (choice) to change my life; the declaration STARTS the battle! In my weak and dark moments when strength and resolve cause me to falter, I refer again to my declaration, my determination, my goal so that I am reminded of what I want in my life. My declaration is the picture of my goal. In those moments of weakness, when I may not "feel" like it, when I face fear, my declaration infuses me with courage and strength; my declaration is a reminder of that moment in time when I made a decision for a better life. So it is then, when I dig back in and fight onward toward my goal. The Declaration of Independence by the founding fathers is an inspiration reminding me that I may have to fight for years between my declaration and my acquisition of my goal. In short: Those who don't quit, don't fail! 

This reflection leads me to think about these words, how they are different and how do they manifest in my life:
Independence.
Freedom
Liberty.

I found this explanation on a blog which describes it quite well:

The Fourth of July is the day on which Americans commemorate their nation's independence, a word that implies the ability to stand alone, without being sustained by anything else.  

While independence is usually associated with countries or nations, freedom and liberty more often apply to people.  

But unlike freedom, which implies an absence of restraint or compulsion (the freedom to speak openly), liberty implies the power to choose among alternatives rather than merely being unrestrained (the liberty to select their own form of government). Freedom can also apply to many different types of oppressive influences (freedom from interruption; freedom to leave the room at any time), while liberty often connotes deliverance or release (he gave the slaves their liberty). 

Freedom and liberty are NOT the same thing. Freedom is devoid of responsibility ("nothing left to lose"?) and awareness for it's environment, people and society included.. 

"My freedom ends where yours begins" 

This maxim speaks directly of the true nature of what it means to live in a group (which connotes a society, which connotes all sorts of things like laws and politics.) If "freedom ends", then it is not by definition freedom, for freedom has no limits. If I accept that there is a self and an other, and that we have met, then it is with liberty that we must live together. I am free to kill you, but living in a group it goes further than mere freedom, for I have the liberty to choose to do so and suffer the responsibility such an act entails.

I wholeheartedly agree that freedom doesn't also mean having liberty. My dog has freedom to roam the yard (limited by the boundary I set for her roaming), but she doesn't have liberty to CHOOSE to roam across the road. Liberty in my own life allows me to choose how to live my life and incur the cost of consequence (bodily, mentally, spiritually or legally) of my choices.

I believe too many people in society want to be free (with boundaries set by the government, society or religion) because they don't want the responsibility of making their own choices and incurring the consequences. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, "Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility! For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect."

I seek Liberty in my life, in my relationships, in my world. Without the choice to live my life how I believe is best for me, without the choice to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, I have nothing. In the words of Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty or give me death!"


NOTE:

A week ago I finally kicked the soda habit! Last week was my "declaration of independence"...I am no longer a subject helping to build the empire of wealth for soda corporations.

Today, I am still fighting the battle to win my liberty in mind, body and health, but it's becoming easier with each passing day. Today's blog was on how I made the connection to the Declaration of Independence and making it personal in my life.

For a long time, I've been eating unprocessed foods...this was the last piece of my dietary food shift. My soda habit (or any other food) wasn't simply the consuming of it, but also buying, tasting and being associated with flavor/texture combinations. So being aware of all that has helped me break those little strands that make the whole habit. I've discovered I enjoy UNsweetened tea!! Zero calories!! I no longer feel the cravings, sugar-crashes, bloats, etc that I did before. Oh, and already, my pants are fitting better too :)

When we eat processed "foods" (I put food in quotes because processed food is not really food), we crave more processed "foods" because they don't provide the same nutrients as raw or unprocessed foods; they don't provide the nutrients the body needs, so the body craves more as it seeks body-healing nutrients. 
Several years ago, I put my cat on a "low fat" diet when she was spayed, but within 4 months time, she actually GAINED 3 pounds!! A friend of mine made the astute observation that my cat probably was eating more to compensate for lack of nutrients in her diet. I changed her diet back and lost weight.

Lessons From Sandhill Cranes

This morning as I lay in bed reading, I heard in the far-off distance, the unmistakable enchanting sounds of Sandhill Cranes in flight.

I turned over to look out the window at the head of my bed and kept my gaze steady on the sky. I heard them getting closer, but since I didn't know from which direction they were flying, I didn't know where they'd appear.

Instead of getting out of bed to look from my two other bedroom windows, and thereby risk seeing them at all, I remained where I was. I heard them getting closer and louder still! And after a few minutes of waiting and listening and looking, I didn't see them at all, but instead heard them growing further away.

As I continued to focus my attention out through the window, listening to the Sandhill Cranes becoming ever faint, I smiled.

I smiled because I had heard them.

I also smiled because it dawned on me that it was enough for me just to hear them. I didn't need to see them in order for my joy to be complete. My joy was complete because I wasn't attached to the outcome that i HAD to see them.

This morning, I heard the beautiful Sandhill Cranes as they flew over my wooded sanctuary. Simply hearing them was joy enough for me :)

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If you've never heard the beautiful Sandhill Cranes, here is video/audio I shot on March 21, 2011: