Her grandmother listened to her story and then took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and put them on the stove to boil. In the first pot, she placed some carrots. In the second pot, she put some eggs, and in the third, she placed some coffee beans. She left them to boil without saying a word.
After twenty minutes, the grandmother turned off the stove and removed the three items. She placed the carrots in a bowl, the eggs in another bowl, and the coffee in a separate bowl. She then asked her granddaughter, “What do you see?” The girl replied, “Carrots, eggs, and coffee.” The grandmother then asked her to touch the carrots, break open the eggs, and smell the coffee.
The girl touched the carrots and found them to be soft. She then broke open the eggs and saw that they were hard-boiled. Finally, she smelled the coffee and savored its rich aroma.
The grandmother then explained the lesson of the story. She said that each of the three items had faced the same problem – boiling water – but each had reacted differently. The carrot, which had initially been hard and unyielding, had become soft and weak after boiling. The egg, which had a fragile exterior, had become hardened inside. The coffee, on the other hand, had changed the water, making it better.
The grandmother asked her granddaughter, “Which one are you? When faced with a problem, are you like the carrot, the egg, or the coffee bean?”
This story is a reminder that we all face difficult situations in life, but how we respond to them is what makes us who we are. Do we become weak and lose our strength like the carrot? Do we become hardened and bitter like the egg? Or do we rise to the challenge and make things better, like the coffee bean?
When we were born, we were crying, and everyone around us was smiling. Life is not always easy, but it is up to us to choose how we respond to the challenges we face. Are we a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
