A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard 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. It seemed that as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came into a boil.
In one he placed carrots, and the last he placed ground coffee beans.
He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
And then the father asked.
Darling, what do you see?
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. 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. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She humbly asked.
What does it mean, father?
He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, BOILING WATER, but each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
And the father asked.
Which are you?
When adversity knocks at your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity you wilt and become soft and lose your strength?
Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart and a fluid spirit,
but after a death, a break up, a divorce, or a lay off have you become
hardened and stiff?
Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough inside with a stiff spirit and heart?
Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water - the very thing that is bringing the pain. The closer the water gets to the boiling the better it tastes.
If you are like the coffee bean you react to difficulties by bettering yourself and making things better around you.
