Which Are You? Carrot, Egg, and Coffee.

A daughter complained to her father about 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 struggling. It seemed that as
soon as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her father, a chef, 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 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
bowl.Turning to her he asked. "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 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. She said, "What's the point?" He explained
that each of the items had faced the same adversity -
boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong
and hard. 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 knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"