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 took 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. “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 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 one 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?”
The moral of the story:
In life, things happen around us, and things happen to us. The only thing that truly matters is your choice of how you react to it and what you make of it. Learn, adapt and choose to make the best of each experience.
this is very nice story/fable to overcome adversary
What I learned from the story is that as at now things may seem to be difficult but we just have to be patience everything will be OK….
It’s to good story
I learned that the story is that failures and trials are there to help us become a better person. Even though we may not understand the purpose of the trials we are faced with now, but it’s changing us for the better.
can i have the summary of this story?
What I learned from the story is that failures and trials are there to help us become a better person. The potato for example can be compared to a hard-hearted man but trials changed him into a caring and gentle person. The egg is probably a thin-skinned person who is afraid to take chances because she avoids criticism, but the hard water made her stronger. Lastly, the coffee bean, never served its purpose until it’s boiled.
We may not understand the purpose of the trials we are faced with now, but it’s changing us for the better.
That is very true but it help with we have a positive attitude on life.