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

Another gem of a story that I personally like. It's about how we react to adversity and challenges. People do react differently to the same adversity, some see the same challenges as stepping stones and some see them as stumbling blocks...

It's a story about a young man who is always complaining about life.   He complained to his father about how life is unfair and how things were so hard for him. He was tired of struggling. as it seemed that as soon as one problem was solved, a new one arose. He did not know how he was going to make it and wanted to give up.

His father who works as a chef,  listened quietly and just nodded. He took him to the kitchen. He then filled three pots with water and placed each on a stove and soon the pots came to a boil. In one pot he placed the carrots, in the second pot he placed the eggs, and the last pot he placed the ground coffee beans. He let them to sit and boil, without saying a word.

The son waited impatiently, wondering what was going on. In about twenty minutes, the father turned off the stoves. He scooped the carrots out and placed them in a plate. He took the eggs out and placed them  in another plate. Then he  stirred  the coffee and poured it into a cup. Turning to his son , he asked him. "What do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," he replied.

The father asked him to feel the carrots. "How does it feel?", his father asked him. "Soft" the son answered. The father then asked him to take an egg and break it. After peeling off the shell, he observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the father asked him to sip the coffee. He smiled as his son tasted its rich aroma. "What's the point?", the son asked. 

He explained that each of the items had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each has reacted differently. The carrot went in strong and hard, but after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg was fragile and soft  but it's thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hard. The ground coffee beans were unique but after they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 

"Which one are you?" he asked his son. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond"? "Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?" 

...prefer my coffee black, please