Inspirational Story 3 - The Carrot, the Egg and the Coffee Bean.
Just the other day, I entered my Maths class of forty 10-year-olds and shared this inspiring story of “The carrot, the egg and the coffee bean”. While the author of the story was unknown, the story was nothing short of inspirational.
Before the story was shared, I asked, “Has anyone of you encounter problems in life before?” With no surprises, more than 80 % of the students shot their little hands up and exclaimed bouts of “Yes! Yes!” “Me! Me!”
“So, how do you deal with these problems?” I enquired.
“Sleep over it!” exclaimed my cute Zanny.
“Forget it!” shouted Nikki.
“Jump from the building!” joked Jas.
”Hhaahahah…” Many of them started to laugh over the respond, however, it was no laughing matter to me. I was worried as it is possible for teenagers to turn to the “easier way out” by hurting themselves at their most vulnerable point in life. So, not wanting to further insert the notion of “suicide” into these young impressionable minds, I started sharing the short story of “The carrot, the egg and the coffee bean”.
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A farmer was plowing his farm one day when his son started grumbling that he was tired of all the farming and plowing in the field. He felt defeated and convinced that life is unfair as he constantly struggles in poverty.
His father looked at him for a moment and took him to the kitchen. He started filling three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Without a word, he let them sit and boil.
Soon the pots started to boil. In the first pot, he placed some carrots. In the second pot, he placed some eggs. Finally, in the last pot, he placed some ground coffee beans.
“What do you think will happen to the carrots, eggs and coffee beans?” asked the father.
“Cooked?” replied the young chap as he shrugged his shoulders.
After 20 minutes, he put out the fire and brought him closer to the pots. ”Feel them,” he said, “what do you notice?”
The son felt the carrots and noted that they were now soft.
He then asked him to take an egg and break it. After peeling off the shell, he observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked him to sip the coffee. The son smiled as he tasted its rich aroma.
“Why, father? ” The son was puzzled.
Father started explaining that each of these objects had faced the same adversity — boiling water — but each had reacted differently.
The carrots went in strong, tough and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile with its thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior. However, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. On the other hand, the ground coffee beans had dissolved but in exchange had added flavour to the water!
“Which are you?” he asked his son.
Now think about this:
The boiling water is like the problems and troubles in our life. When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
Are you the carrot that seems strong, but when faced with pain and challenges, become soft and lose its strength?
Or are you the egg that starts with a kind heart, but changes with the heat? Have you become hardened and stiff after quarrels and with your family and friends? Sometimes, while your “shell” looks the same, was the inside bitter and tough with a hardened heart?
Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. It’s not hard to notice that as the water gets hot, the coffee bean dissolves and adds colours and fragrance to the water. If you are like the bean, it’s when things are at their toughest that you get better and change the situation around you.
So, how do you handle problems in your life? Are you changed by your surroundings or do you strive to make the best out of the situation and make a positive change to the situation?
“So son, are you a carrrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?” asked the father.
The son replied, with a smile on his face, “I’ll be the coffee bean… just like you, papa.”
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After the story was told, I asked my students, “So, who would like to be a coffee bean?”
From the little hands that shot up, I know something positive has stirred their hearts and inspired them.
“Be like the coffee bean that changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. And it’s also when the water gets hot, that it releases the fragrance and flavor.”
Before the story was shared, I asked, “Has anyone of you encounter problems in life before?” With no surprises, more than 80 % of the students shot their little hands up and exclaimed bouts of “Yes! Yes!” “Me! Me!”
“So, how do you deal with these problems?” I enquired.
“Sleep over it!” exclaimed my cute Zanny.
“Forget it!” shouted Nikki.
“Jump from the building!” joked Jas.
”Hhaahahah…” Many of them started to laugh over the respond, however, it was no laughing matter to me. I was worried as it is possible for teenagers to turn to the “easier way out” by hurting themselves at their most vulnerable point in life. So, not wanting to further insert the notion of “suicide” into these young impressionable minds, I started sharing the short story of “The carrot, the egg and the coffee bean”.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————
A farmer was plowing his farm one day when his son started grumbling that he was tired of all the farming and plowing in the field. He felt defeated and convinced that life is unfair as he constantly struggles in poverty.
His father looked at him for a moment and took him to the kitchen. He started filling three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Without a word, he let them sit and boil.
Soon the pots started to boil. In the first pot, he placed some carrots. In the second pot, he placed some eggs. Finally, in the last pot, he placed some ground coffee beans.
“What do you think will happen to the carrots, eggs and coffee beans?” asked the father.
“Cooked?” replied the young chap as he shrugged his shoulders.
After 20 minutes, he put out the fire and brought him closer to the pots. ”Feel them,” he said, “what do you notice?”
The son felt the carrots and noted that they were now soft.
He then asked him to take an egg and break it. After peeling off the shell, he observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked him to sip the coffee. The son smiled as he tasted its rich aroma.
“Why, father? ” The son was puzzled.
Father started explaining that each of these objects had faced the same adversity — boiling water — but each had reacted differently.
The carrots went in strong, tough and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile with its thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior. However, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. On the other hand, the ground coffee beans had dissolved but in exchange had added flavour to the water!
“Which are you?” he asked his son.
Now think about this:
The boiling water is like the problems and troubles in our life. When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
Are you the carrot that seems strong, but when faced with pain and challenges, become soft and lose its strength?
Or are you the egg that starts with a kind heart, but changes with the heat? Have you become hardened and stiff after quarrels and with your family and friends? Sometimes, while your “shell” looks the same, was the inside bitter and tough with a hardened heart?
Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. It’s not hard to notice that as the water gets hot, the coffee bean dissolves and adds colours and fragrance to the water. If you are like the bean, it’s when things are at their toughest that you get better and change the situation around you.
So, how do you handle problems in your life? Are you changed by your surroundings or do you strive to make the best out of the situation and make a positive change to the situation?
“So son, are you a carrrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?” asked the father.
The son replied, with a smile on his face, “I’ll be the coffee bean… just like you, papa.”
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————
After the story was told, I asked my students, “So, who would like to be a coffee bean?”
From the little hands that shot up, I know something positive has stirred their hearts and inspired them.
“Be like the coffee bean that changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. And it’s also when the water gets hot, that it releases the fragrance and flavor.”