A daughter complained to her father about her life and how difficult things were for her. She did not know how to go forward and believed that she would give up. I was tired of fighting. It seemed that when I solved one problem, another would appear.
Her father, a chef in the kitchen, took her to his workplace. There he filled three pots with water and placed them over a high fire. Before long the water in the three pots began to boil. In one he placed carrots, in another he placed eggs and in the last one he placed coffee beans. I let them boil without saying a word.
The daughter waited impatiently, wondering what her father was doing. Twenty minutes later the father put out the fire. Took out the carrots and put them in a bowl. He took out the eggs and placed them on another plate. Finally, he strained the coffee and put it in a third container. Looking at his daughter he said:
- "My dear, what do you see?"
- "Carrots, eggs and coffee" was his reply..
He brought her closer and asked her to touch the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. Then he asked her to take an egg and break it. After removing the shell, he observed the hard-boiled egg. Then he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she enjoyed his rich scent. The daughter humbly asked:
- "What does this mean, father?"
He explained that the three elements had faced the same adversity: boiling water, but each of them had reacted differently. The carrot arrive to the water strong, solid; but after going through the boiling water it had become weak, easy to undo. The egg had reached the water fragile, its thin shell protected its liquid interior; but after being in boiling water, her insides had hardened. The coffee beans however were unique; after being in boiling water, they had switched to water turning it into coffee.
- "Which one are you?", he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, How do you answer? Are you a carrot that seems strong but when adversity and pain touch you, you become weak and lose your strength? Are you an egg, which starts with a malleable heart? Did you possess a fluid spirit, but after a death, a separation, or a dismissal have you become hard and rigid? On the outside you look the same, but are you bitter and harsh, with a spirit and a hardened heart??
Or are you like a coffee bean? Coffee turns to boiling water, the element that causes you pain. When the water reaches the boiling point, the coffee reaches its best flavor. If you are like the coffee bean, when things get worse you react better and make things around you better.
And you, which of the three are you?
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