Are You a Carrot, an Egg or a Coffee Bean?

A daughter complained to her father about her life. Things were so hard for her that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one pot he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word. The daughter sucked her teeth and waited impatiently, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes, he turned off the burners, took 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 cup. Turning to his daughter, he asked, “Darling, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs and coffee,” she replied. The father 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. “What does it mean, Father?” asked the daughter. The father explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrots went in strong and hard, but after being subjected to the boiling water, they softened and became weak. The eggs had been fragile. Their thin outer shells had protected their liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, their inside became hardened. However, the coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you?” the father asked. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”