05/12/2016
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? “
Moral: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?
