Have you ever experienced a time in your life when it seems as one problem is solved, a new one arises? And then you start thinking, am I going to make it through this? Should I keep going?

Long time ago, I read an article at a spiritual booklet which drew a great analogy that I have not forgotten: It described adversity as boiling water in a pot and we with the choice of being either carrots, eggs or coffee beans. In boiling water, the carrots which seemed hard and strong, get soft and lose their strength. The eggs have a shell that looks the same before and after boiling water, but the inside – once fluid and malleable – turns hard and stiff. The coffee beans actually change the boiling water, they transform it into something with flavor that is good … When we choose to be like the coffee beans we change the situation around us.

We wish living these analogies into practical life was as “easy” as it is to read these cute articles, but there is an inner wisdom we must not dismiss: We can decide how to face adversity and if we make the right choice, we can transform ourselves while transforming it into something better than before.

We are called to grow, to expand and enrich our traits (some would call it grow in virtue) so we develop the ability to make the most out of everything that comes our way.

So, should we keep going? YES! Can we make it through “this”? YES, if you choose wisely and grow.