A young woman was feeling really down. Life was tough, one problem after another. She was tired of fighting. She told her dad, a chef, how miserable she was.

Her father decided to show her something in the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and put them on the stove to boil. Then, he dropped potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He let them boil without saying a word. That daughter watched, confused. After a while, he turned off the stove. He took the potatoes out, then the eggs, and finally the coffee.  

“What do you see?” he asked her.

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer,” he said.  The potatoes were soft. The egg was hard. The coffee smelled amazing.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained, the potatoes, egg and coffee beans faced the same hot water. But they changed in different ways. The potatoes got weak. The egg got hard. But the coffee beans made something new and delicious.”

“Which 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 daughter thought about it. Her dad’s lesson made her see things differently.

Lesson to learn

How do you react when life throws hot water your way? Do you crumble like the potato, harden like the egg, or transform your circumstances like the coffee beans? This story is not just about kitchen ingredients; it is a powerful metaphor for resilience-in-adversity.

In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

Instead of letting hardships defeat you or harden your heart, be like the coffee beans. Transform adversity into opportunity and bring positive change to your environment. Embrace challenges as catalysts for growth and innovation. Choose to be adaptable and resilient. When faced with boiling waters, don’t just endure—rise above and reshape the world around you. Be the change. Take action today!