Potatoes,
Eggs and Coffee Beans
Once
upon a time a daughter complained to her father that
her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she
was going to make it.
She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one
problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her
father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three
pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once
the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one
pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans
in the third pot.
He
then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to
his daughter.
The
daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what
he was doing.
After
twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the
potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He
pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then
ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning
to her he asked. "Daughter, what do you see?"
"Potatoes,
eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look
closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes." 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. Its rich aroma brought
a smile to her face.
"Father,
what does this mean?" She asked
He
then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee
beans had each faced the same adversity--the boiling
water. However, each one reacted differently.
The
potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling
water, it became soft and weak.
The
egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting
its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water.
Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However,
the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were
exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water
and created something new.
"Which
are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity
knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato,
an egg, or a coffee bean?"
In
life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but
the only thing that truly matters is what happens within
us.
Which
one are you?
Author unknown
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