I heard an interesting story a while ago on the radio, and it's stuck with me ever since. Now that I'm maturing and trying to "find myself", this story has become more prominent in my life. Here's how it goes:

One day I was feeling really down, and approached my mother. She listened to my problems, then brought me to the kitchen and boiled a pot of water. She took out a carrot, and put it into the boiling water. She pointed out that the carrot turned soft.  Then she took out an egg, and again put that into the water. The egg, my mother then observed, turned hard. Finally, she took out a coffee bean, and immersed that into the water and immediately, the water turned brown. My mother said, "You see, child, in life you have three choices. You can turn soft from your surroundings like a carrot, you can turn hard like an egg, or you can change your environment like a coffee bean. It's up to you what to choose, but in life you should always strive to be a coffee bean.”

I don't think I realized it before, but I totally let my surroundings control me in the past. I would always agree with everyone else, never make my own decisions, and sort of blend in with the background. I wasn't really me. After hearing the story, I discovered what a fool I was. I can be me. I can show my true colours, and have people still love me. Hence, my road towards becoming a coffee bean. (First step, a session on the tanning bed! ;P)

So what are you, a carrot, hard-boiled egg, or coffee bean?