₦airaland Forum

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 pulled
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.
“Daughter, 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 then 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.
Moral: In life, things happen
around us, things happen to us,
but the only thing that truly
matters is how you choose to
react to it and what you make out
of it. Life is all about leaning,
adopting and converting all the
struggles that we experience into
something positive.
“When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are
you a potato, an egg, or a coffee
bean?”