Mai thoughts on life

A young woman came to her grandma to complain about her husband. Grandma being older and wiser didn’t say anything. She didn’t scold the husband or took her granddaughter’s side. She just went to the kitchen and put 3 pots with water on the stove.

When the water started to boil she put a carrot in one pot, an egg in the second and a spoonful of coffee in the third one. The granddaughter was surprised that her grandma just ignored her, but she decided not to say anything. She sat there in silence feeling hurt. When the grandma turned off the stove, the granddaughter started talking again, but the grandma just put the carrot, the egg and the coffee in front of the granddaughter.

She told her to try each one of them and tell her what she noticed. The carrot became soft. It was hard before, but the boiling water made it weak. The opposite happened to the egg. When she cracked it, the shell that was protecting the soft inside, now became useless as the inside turned hard. The granddaughter started to understand where the grandma was going with this.

‘Ok, I get it!’,she said. The carrot and the egg were both put in the same boiling water. One turned soft, the other turned hard. ‘But how does coffee fit into this lesson?’ Grandma replied ‘When faced with difficulties, don’t let them make you weak and helpless like this carrot. Don’t let them make you cold and heartless like that egg either. Never let what’s happening around you change you. Coffee didn’t change itself, it changed its surrounding.’

You can’t control what’s happening around you. But you can always choose how to react to different situations. When life throws you into boiling water, be neither carrot nor egg. Be coffee instead! Use your taste and aroma to change your surroundings. Always be coffee.