The Chef’s Daughter

Unknown Author

Contributed by Ashok G. Vasandani

 

Here’s a story I read in www.developgoodhabits.com that I’d like to share, something that we can all learn from.

 ONCE there was a girl who complained to her father that her life was so hard and that she didn’t know how she would get through all of her struggles. She was tired, and she felt like as soon as one problem was solved, another would arise.

Being a chef, the girl’s father took her into his kitchen. He brought in three pots of water that were equal in size. He placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in another, and ground coffee beans in the final pot.

He let the pots sit and boil for 20 minutes while, not saying anything to his daughter. Then he removed the potatoes from the pot and put them in a bowl. He did the same with the boiled eggs. He then used a ladle to scoop out the boiled coffee and poured it in a mug. He asked his daughter, “What do you see?”

She responded, “Potatoes, eggs, and coffee.”

Her father told her to take a closer look and to touch the potatoes. She did and noticed they were soft. Her father then told her to break open an egg. She acknowledged the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he told her to take a sip of the coffee. It was rich and delicious.

She asked her father what all these meant. He explained that each of the three food items had just undergone the exact same hardship–twenty minutes inside boiling water. However, each item had a different reaction.

The potato went into the water as a strong, hard item, but after being boiled, it turned soft and weak. The egg was fragile when it entered the water, with a thin outer shell protecting a liquid interior. However, after it was left to boil, the inside of the egg became firm and strong. Finally, the ground coffee beans were different. Upon being exposed to boiling water, they changed the water to create something new altogether.

He then asked his daughter, “Which are you? When you face adversity, do you respond by becoming soft and weak? Do you build strength? Or do you change the situation?”

The Moral:

Life is full of ups and downs, wins and losses, and big shifts in momentum, and adversity is a big part of this experience. And while many of us would rather not face adversity, it doesn’t have to always be a negative thing. In fact, handling adversity can be a positive experience that can lead to personal development.

You choose how to respond to adversity, whether you let it break you down or you stand up in the face of it and learn from it. In many instances, facing adversity gives you a chance to learn important lessons that can help you grow as a person.

When facing adversity, it’s important to recognize your freedom, to choose how you respond. You can respond in a way that ultimately limits you, or you can choose to have a more productive response that could potentially open windows of opportunity that we didn’t know existed.

SOURCE: https://www.developgoodhabits.com/inspirational-stories/

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments