Carrot, egg or coffee

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 for fighting and struggling. It seemed
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 he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in 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 a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
mug. Turning to her he asked, “Darling, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee.” She replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the
carrots. She did and noted the 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?” she humbly
asked.

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.

“Which are you?” he asked his daughter.

When adversity knows on your door, how do you
respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?