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I Prefer the Coffee

Carrots, Eggs, & Coffee
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A teenage girl was constantly complaining of her issues and problems, saying over and over how unfair the world was and how she couldn’t handle it anymore.

This type of talk continued for a few days until her grandmother eventually grew irritated and got tired of hearing it.

“Fill three pots with water and put ‘em on the stove,” the grandmother instructed the moody child.  “Then take out some carrots, eggs, and coffee beans.”

“For what?” the girl replied.

“Just do it, young-un,” said grandma sternly.

And so the youngster complied and soon all three pots of water had come to a boil and the carrots, eggs, and coffee beans were laid out on the table.

“Now put these carrots in the first pot,” said the grandmother, “but first drop one on the counter and tell me what happens.”

Confused, the teen did as her grandmother said, noting the relative strength and resiliency of the vegetable as it simply bounced off the surface without being damaged in any way.

“So why didn’t the carrot break?” asked the grandma.

“I don’t know,” said the girl.  “Maybe because it’s strong and tough, I guess.”

“Now what would happen if you dropped one of the eggs like that?” grandmother asked.

“Obviously, the egg will break if I drop it,” said the bewildered girl.

“And why is that?”

“Because it’s weak and fragile; I mean, it’s an EGG, grandma.”

“Okay.  Now put it in the second pot.”

Once again the girl complied as her grandmother then told her to grind up the coffee beans and put the product in the third pot of boiling water.

Soon the coffee was ready, so the grandmother and teenager each had a cup while retrieving the carrots and eggs from their respective pots and allowing them to cool sufficiently.

Once they were safe to handle, the carrots were taken out of the pot and subjected to inspection by the teenager while the grandmother peeled the shells from the hard-boiled eggs. 

“How do the carrots feel now? asked the grandmother.

“Well, they’re all soft and mushy.”

“And what about the eggs?” as she handed one to the girl.  “Drop it on the counter and see what happens.”

The utterly confused girl did so, watching the hard-boiled egg bounce unharmed off of the Formica.

Grandmother continued to sip her coffee as the girl now began to seek answers as to just why she had been subjected to this silliness.

“And what was the point of all of that?” inquired the teen.

The grandmother replied, “Well, at first, the carrots were strong and hard while the eggs were weak and fragile.  But once they were each subjected to the boiling water, they changed.  The strong, hard carrots became weak and mushy, while the weak, fragile eggs became stronger and more resistant to harm.”

“And what about the coffee?” asked the girl. 

“The coffee was subjected to even worse treatment, right?  The beans were forcefully ground up and then dumped into boiling water, but yet when all was said and done, what was the final outcome?”

“The beans changed the water into coffee(?)” exclaimed the girl, unsure of the relevance of her answer but hoping that she had perhaps finally solved the riddle.

“Exactly!” noted grandma. 

“But so what?” asked the now totally exasperated teen.  “How was that not just a tremendous waste of time?”

“Well, people are pretty much like the carrots and eggs in some ways.  Specifically, a lot of folks seem strong and tough, but when faced with adversity, they melt into mush, just like the carrots.”

“Oh, okay, I see now,” said the girl.  “And other people are like the eggs – they are weak and fragile at first, but get stronger when they experience rough times.”

“But I am still confused about the coffee,” she said.

The wise old grandma then revealed the most important point of the exercise to the youngster.  “The coffee came out even better than the eggs.  Not only were the beans subjected to even more adversity than was the case with the eggs, but the beans actually changed the very element that they encountered; the boiling water was transformed into this delicious coffee.”

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Grandma continued, “People, when faced with adversity, can be like the carrots and let the elements of life get the best of them, or they can be like the eggs and use the experience to improve themselves.  But by far, the BEST way to be is to not only grow and strengthen yourself, but make positive changes in the world around you at the same time.”

No cream, no sugar, thank you.

Editor’s note:  This is a paraphrased version of a parable of unknown authorship.



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