Why does orange juice come out of an orange when you squeeze it? This isn’t a trick question. It’s because the orange has been squeezed and that’s what’s inside of it. This is a saying from a man named Brian Klemmer from Klemmer and Associates.
Orange juice from an orange is a metaphor for our own life. So, what does it mean for us to be squeezed? If we’re having relationship issues, if we’ve lost our job, or had a medical issue, we are being “squeezed.” If we are speaking in public for the first time, if we’re having difficulty with our employer, or we are simply being cut off in traffic, we are being “squeezed.”
What comes out of us when we are squeezed? Is it bitterness, or anger? Do we just shrink back in fear and timidity? Do we become jaded and cynical?
Let’s take the analogy in a slightly different direction (again borrowing from Brian Klemmer). What happens when you put a carrot in a pot of boiling water? It becomes soft and limp. This is like when we become passive and disengage from the world and those we love when we are “squeezed.”
What happens when you put an egg into a pot of boiling water? It becomes hard boiled, even though it has a nice hard shell. This is like when we become jaded and and cynical from being “squeezed.”
In the case with the carrots and the eggs, for the most part the water is left unchanged. The water represents the world around us. So, what happens when you put coffee into a pot of boiling water? Instead of being changed, the coffee beans change the water into coffee.
Here at Simply Great Lives, we have a particular challenge. This challenge is to wake people up to the fact that they can be like the coffee and not like the carrot or the egg. People come to us wanting to have a bigger impact from their life, but often they have a hard time believing it’s possible.
We all have been, and will be squeezed in some way. This is just a part of life. Often times, the past challenges we’ve faced are the source of the fertile ground we use to live our legacy. Being squeezed isn’t just a bad event we hope to get through. It’s the proving ground from which we shape our life and legacy.
So what will come out of you when you are squeezed? Will you be like the carrot, the egg, or the coffee?
