A grandmother shares insightful knowledge with her granddaughter in a touching fable that has gone viral on the internet. The story sheds light on resilience and the various ways people deal with hardship.
In the first scene of the story, a young woman confides in her grandmother about the difficulties and trials she has encountered in life, expressing her weariness and want to give up. The grandmother responds by guiding her into the kitchen where she starts a brief but impactful demonstration.
She boils three pots of water and then adds coffee beans, eggs, and carrots to each pot. The granddaughter watches silently as the water simmers. The grandma fetches the items and arranges the carrots, eggs, and coffee in different bowls after the pots have been boiling for some time.
The granddaughter is curious, so she asks her grandma to explain the purpose of the practice. The grandmother gently guides her granddaughter in examining how each object responds to the boiling water.
The heat caused the once-strong and unyielding carrots to soften. The eggs, delicate on the outside, became hard on the inside from the boiling water. However, in contrast to the eggs and carrots, the coffee beans changed the water, bringing out its flavor and aroma.
The grandma asks her granddaughter a moving question at a time of reflection: “Which are you? In the face of difficulty, how do you react? Which are you: a coffee bean, an egg, or a carrot?
The grandma continues the parallel by asking her granddaughter to reflect on her own fortitude and how she handles difficulties in life. Does she wither away like the carrot, weakening and softening in the face of hardship? Does she become rough on the outside and bitter on the inside, just like the egg? Or does she, like the coffee bean, rise above the adversity and change the circumstances by bringing her unique essence to bear?
This short but deep tale serves as a reminder of everyone’s innate resilience and the capacity to turn misfortune into opportunity for personal development and constructive change. Even if the author is still unknown, the universal truth that is expressed strikes a deep chord with readers everywhere, providing comfort and motivation during trying times.
