The Carrot, the Egg & the Coffee Bean || Port Alberni Investment Advisor

In recent posts, I have been drawing comparisons between coffee and life and the things that are most important to us.  Before moving on to a new theme later this week, I'd like to share one more story about coffee with you.  I'm hoping that you will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.  Here's the story.

A young woman went to her mother and told her that things had been very hard for her lately.  She confided that she was tired of these struggles and was close to giving up.  It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen, where she filled three pots of water and placed them upon the stove to boil.  She placed sliced carrots in the first pot, an egg in the second, and coffee beans in the third.  She let them sit and boil and asked her daughter to wait with her.  After about fifteen minutes, the mother removed the pots from the stove.  She drained the carrots and the egg and put each on a plate.  She poured the water with the coffee beans into a mug.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"  "Carrots, an egg and coffee," the daughter replied.

The mother asked the daughter to look more closely and feel the items.  The daughter did, and noted that the carrots were soft.  Then she picked up the egg and broke its shell, revealing a hard boiled egg.  She then smelled the coffee and smiled at its rich aroma.  "What does it mean, mother?" the daughter asked.

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently.  The carrot, which had been strong and firm when it went in the water, came out soft and weak.  The egg had a fragile shell which protected its soft, liquid interior.  When boiled, the liquid became hardened.  The coffee beans, however, were unique.  After sitting in boiling water, they changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter.  "When adversity knocks on your door how do you respond?  Do you become weak like the carrot, hardened like the egg, or do you react like the coffee bean and change the circumstances around you to make things better?"  


This is a fictional story, but it serves to remind us that its our reaction to our world around us that shapes our character.  When the water gets hot, the coffee bean releases its rich fragrance and changes the situation around it.  It handles adversity by changing its circumstances and bringing life and flavour to it.  In life, when the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, think of the coffee bean.  See your surroundings as an opportunity to bring about change.  Just as the coffee bean changes the water, you can make changes to create more flavour and richness in your life.  Which are you?  The carrot, the egg...or the coffee bean? 

Photos by Stirling Images Photography