Carrot, egg or coffee?

A mother's wise lesson on resilience in the face of adversity

Source : https://www.epochtimes.fr/carotte-oeuf-ou-cafe-la-lecon-avisee-dune-mere-sur-la-resilience-face-a-ladversite-2610514.html

Since the dawn of time, parents have passed on to their children the benefit of life experience, which can be painful and difficult. And too often, whether children are receptive or not determines the success or failure, the ease or difficulty they will later enjoy or endure.

The Chinese have a saying, often uttered by parents towards their children, which goes: "A bridge you cross today is equivalent to a single thought crossing my mind." Chinese culture dictates that suffering naturally accompanies children who disrespect their parents, because they do not heed this wisdom . The Chinese believe that the laws of heaven and earth decide this.

Social media is full of anecdotes, and words of wisdom from parents are online like hidden gems. One of them tells the story of a mother who explains to her daughter, exasperated by life, how to move forward. The wise mother presents an illustration to her child, the premise of her parable being simple, things that everyone can relate to:

Food and coffee.

Are you the carrot, the egg or the coffee?

A young woman was complaining to her mother that things were so difficult. Not knowing how she was going to get through it, she felt like giving up. Every day was a constant struggle and she was tired of fighting. After solving one problem, it seemed like another always popped up in its place.

The mother took her daughter to the kitchen and filled three pans with water. In the first, she placed raw carrots. In the second, several whole uncooked eggs. And in the third, she put ground coffee.

The mother and daughter waited for the water to boil, the mother not saying a word, and the daughter growing impatient and wondering what her mother was doing. About twenty minutes passed and the mother turned off the stove. She then scooped out the cooked carrots and placed them in a bowl, took out the hard-boiled eggs and placed them in another bowl, then dipped a ladle in the coffee and poured some into a third container.

Turning to her daughter, the mother asked: “Tell me what you see.”

The girl replied: “Carrots, eggs and coffee.”

Pulling the girl towards her, the mother asked her to touch the carrots. They were tender under the young woman's fingers. The mother asked her to open and touch an egg, which she did. To the touch, the egg was hard and rubbery. Finally, the mother asked him to take a sip of freshly brewed coffee. The young woman breathed in the rich aroma, which made her smile.

Sipping her coffee, the girl asked, “Mom, why are you showing me this?” ".

“Because each of these elements faced the same adversity: boiling water,” says the mother, explaining how each of them reacted differently. The carrots were immersed in water hard but came out soft and lacking in vigor. The eggs were very fragile, but after boiling they became hard and compact. But it was different for coffee. Instead of being changed, he changed the water.

“Which of the three are you?” » asked the mother. “When trouble knocks at our door, how do we react: like carrots, eggs or coffee? »

And you, what are you like? Do you start out firm, like carrots, but when problems arise you soften and wilt under pressure? Are you easy-going at first like the egg, which was fluid inside, but after experiencing trials you become hard and unapproachable?

Or do you transform the world around you when bad luck strikes, like coffee, which only improves when immersed in boiling water, turning a hot situation into something special? 'pleasant and delicious? The boiling water only released the wonderful essences and magnificent aromas of the coffee.

So when things are at their worst, will you be like coffee and use that to bring out the best in you and change your environment?