Perseverance story: What Are You... a carrot, egg or coffee?

A young woman was at the end of her rope. She felt as if life had been unfair, throwing one problem after another at her. No matter how hard she tried, challenges kept piling up, and she was exhausted. Every time she overcame one obstacle, another appeared. One evening, feeling completely overwhelmed, she went to visit her mother. She sat at the kitchen table and let out a deep sigh. With a heavy heart, she shared her struggles. She explained how tired she was of fighting, how nothing seemed to go right, and how she felt like giving up. Her mother listened patiently, nodding as she took in every word. She didn’t interrupt or try to offer solutions immediately. Instead, she stood up and walked to the stove. She filled three pots with water and placed them on high heat. Curious but too drained to ask, the young woman watched as her mother worked in silence. Soon, the water in all three pots reached a boil. The mother then took a handful of carrots and placed them in the first pot. In the second pot, she gently placed a few eggs. In the third, she added a scoop of ground coffee beans. Still, she said nothing. For the next twenty minutes, the young woman sat in silence, watching the steam rise from the pots. She wondered what her mother was doing, but she was too tired to question it. Finally, the mother turned off the heat and carefully removed the items from each pot. She placed the softened carrots in one bowl. She took out the eggs and placed them in another. Then, she ladled the rich, dark coffee into a third bowl. Looking at her daughter with warmth, she gestured toward the bowls and asked, “What do you see?” 

The young woman hesitated before answering, confused by the question. “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. The mother nodded and brought her daughter closer. “Touch the carrots,” she instructed. The daughter reached out and picked up a carrot. It was soft, almost mushy. “Now, take an egg and crack it,” the mother continued. The young woman tapped the egg against the table, peeling away the shell. Inside, the egg was no longer liquid it was now hard. Finally, the mother pushed the bowl of coffee toward her daughter. “Take a sip,” she encouraged. The young woman lifted the bowl to her lips and took a slow sip. The warm liquid filled her mouth with its rich, comforting aroma. It was delicious. She set the bowl down and looked at her mother. “I don’t understand,” she admitted. “What does this have to do with my struggles?” Her mother smiled gently and explained, “Each of these items was placed in the same boiling water. But each one reacted differently.”  She pointed to the carrots. “The carrots went in strong and firm. They seemed tough. But after being exposed to the boiling water, they became weak and soft.” Then she picked up an egg. “The egg was fragile. It had a thin shell protecting its liquid center. But after being in the boiling water, the inside became hardened.” Finally, she gestured toward the bowl of coffee. “But the coffee beans? They did something different. Instead of being changed by the water, they changed the water itself. They transformed their surroundings into something new and rich.” She looked at her daughter kindly and asked, “Which one are you? When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?”

The young woman remained silent, thinking about what her mother had just told her. Her mother continued, “Are you like the carrot? Do you start strong, but when pain and struggles come, do you lose your strength and become weak? Do you let hardships break you down?” “Or are you like the egg? Do you begin with a soft, open heart, but after facing difficult experiences, do you harden on the inside? Do challenges make you bitter, closed off, and unfeeling? Do you build a shell around yourself, refusing to let anyone in?” She then picked up the bowl of coffee again. “Or are you like the coffee bean? Instead of letting difficulties change you for the worse, do you use them as an opportunity to grow? Do you take the heat of life and turn it into something new something better?” She paused, letting the words sink in. Then she said softly, “Hardships will always come, my dear. You cannot control the water, but you can control how you respond to it.” For the first time in a long while, the young woman felt a sense of clarity. She realized that while she could not always choose what happened to her, she could choose how she reacted. She could let her struggles weaken her like the carrot, harden her like the egg, or strengthen her like the coffee bean. She reached for the bowl of coffee once more, taking another slow sip. As she did, she silently promised herself that the next time life placed her in hot water, she would not let it break her. She would be like the coffee bean strong enough not just to endure the heat but to use it to create something new.