Feel Good Friday – The lesson of the coffee bean

Photo credit:  nutritionhealthnet.com

Have you ever been in a situation in your life where you were struggling with something and felt like things were not getting better? As I was reflecting on some of the obstacles I’ve overcome and those yet to be conquered, I thought about a story. It is a story that I have heard many times and in many variations.

The story of the carrot, the egg, and the coffee bean presents a lesson on facing adversity. Read below and see what you think.

A young woman went to her mother and told her 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 of fighting and struggling.

It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about 20 minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the young woman replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity –boiling water- but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, 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. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” the mother asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you, a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?” Think of this. Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, or a financial hardship, does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart. Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean changes the water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.

Author Unknown

You can choose to be like the coffee bean, when things seem at their worst, change the situation around you. Have you ever been in a situation where you had be like that coffee bean?