Are you an egg, a carrot, or a coffee?

I recently heard an interesting story that left an impression on me. I later discovered that it was a well-known story I had never heard before. The story is still in my mind. Moreover, I need to share it with others. That is why I will share it with you today, although you may already know it.

It is a story about a girl who experienced great disappointment in her life. We all have them, don't we? That's the way it is. We become disappointed and don't know what to do next. In these situations, we often seek advice from friends, parents, and even grandparents. She asked her grandmother for advice.

And now the interesting part of the story begins. Granny didn't answer her but took her to the kitchen. She took three pots and filled them with water. She put each on the stove. The water boiled quickly. She put a carrot in the first pot, egg in the second, and ground coffee beans in the third.

When the egg, carrot, and coffee were cooked, she took them out on a plate and poured the coffee into a cup. She asked the girl what she saw and she said she saw a carrot, an egg, and coffee. She touched the carrot and felt it soft. She broke the egg and felt it hard and boiled. She drank some coffee and enjoyed its aroma. The girl asked what all that meant and her grandmother answered that all three foods encountered the same problem - hot water. And each one had a different reaction.

• The carrot entered the pot strong and hard and the hot water made it soft and weak.

• The egg entered the pot hard outside, soft inside, and warm water made it hard inside.

• Ground coffee beans have changed their shape and texture in hot water.

Grandma then asked the girl, "What are you? Are you an egg, a carrot, or a coffee bean?"

What we are depends on how we react to difficult life situations. The grandmother told the girl that she wished her enough experience to be soft and sweet as a carrot, but also to harden and be able to influence her experiences and benefit from them.

I've been thinking about this. I am not an egg because I do not become hard and strong when something bad happens to me. I become even softer and weaker. I think I'll be a carrot. I act strong but only while everything is fine. When a difficult situation happens to me it makes me soft and weak, very weak. I would like to be like coffee, to change when something bad happens to me, and to benefit from my suffering. To continue in a new light, with a new will in life in which I will be able to change everything that is not good for me.

The happiest people are not the ones who have the best of everything - they just make the best of everything what comes their way.

Thank you very much for reading.

The article and the image are original and mine.