A daughter was complaining to her father about her life and how things were very difficult for her. Every time she solved one problem, another appeared. She didn’t know how to move forward. She was tired of fighting and she considered giving up. Her father was a chef in a restaurant and one day he decided to take her to the restaurant where she worked. There, without saying a word, she filled three small containers with water and placed them on the fire. As soon as the water began to boil she placed a carrot in one, an egg in another, and some coffee beans in the third. The daughter waited patiently wondering what her father was doing.

Twenty minutes later, the father put out the fire. He took out the carrot and egg and put them on a plate and left the coffee in the container.

He made her come closer and asked her to touch the carrot and notice what it looked like. She did and he replied that she was soft.

Then he asked her to break the shell of the egg and notice what the egg looked like. She did it and replied that it was hard.

She then asked him to try the coffee. She smiled as she enjoyed its rich aroma and flavor.

The daughter asked, “What does this mean, Dad?”

He explained: “All three elements faced the same adversity: boiling water. But each one reacted differently:

The carrot reached the water strong and hard; but it became soft and weak.

The egg had reached the water fragile, protected only by its shell; but it became hard. The coffee beans, however, were unique. After being in boiling water, they had changed the water.

Which one are you?, she asked her daughter…

In life we face circumstances that we cannot change. The only thing we can do is decide how to deal with them. Maybe today is one of those days when the water is boiling and we start to feel very hot… You can choose if you want to be carrot, egg or coffee. If you want to let yourself be carried away by the difficulties that you find on your path and lose your strength, weakening and giving up. If you want to learn from those difficulties and challenges and create a shell around yourself as a defense mechanism, appearing apparently more resistant, but having lost your essence. If you want to take advantage of these situations to transform yourself and what is around you, letting your true self come out, what makes you unique, what can enrich others, the best of you… What do you choose?