Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”
“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “
Moral:In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.
Which one are you?


從前，一名女孩跟她的父親抱怨。她覺得人生好悲慘，她不知道該怎麼繼續支撐下去了。女孩說，她已經厭倦了總是苦苦奮鬥和掙扎的自己。每次都是看似解決了一個難題，下一秒鐘另一個難題便不停歇的跟了上來。

女孩的父親是一名廚師。他帶著女孩走到了廚房。他先是將三個鍋子裝滿了水，然後開火。終於水煮開了，女孩的父親接著將馬鈴薯放入第一個鍋子裡。然後再是把一顆雞蛋和一些咖啡豆分別放進了第二和第三個鍋子內。

父親的下一步就是等待。經過許久，他一句話都沒有對他的女兒說。反倒是女孩，等得不耐煩，又開始輕聲抱怨起來。她完全摸不透父親到底這樣做是為了什麼。

經過了二十分鐘，女孩的父親將火關掉。然後，分別取出了三個鍋子內的馬鈴薯和雞蛋，裝進了碗裡。最後，把煮好的咖啡舀出來倒入在杯子中。這時他轉過了身子，面向女孩。

“女兒，你現在看到了什麼？”父親問道。

“不就是馬鈴薯，雞蛋，和咖啡嘛。”女孩板著臉回答。

“妳再看仔細一點，去觸摸、感受這三種不同的東西。”父親提示道。

女孩照著父親的話摸了摸馬鈴薯，她發現這顆馬鈴薯很鬆軟。接著，父親讓她把雞蛋打碎。女孩也一樣照樣做了，將雞蛋的殼撥開了。她仔細觀察了煮熟了的，變得硬硬的水煮蛋。終於，父親最後叫女孩喝一口咖啡。咖啡那濃郁的香氣使她情不自禁的笑了笑。

“爸爸，我想我還是不太明白您什麼意思。”女孩疑惑的詢問。

父親解釋說，其實那個馬鈴薯，雞蛋，和咖啡豆都同樣地面對了一種逆境──滾燙的開水。但是，它們面對困難時卻做出了截然不同的反應。
馬鈴薯在開始之前還是堅強和剛硬的。可是，經過了開水翻滾後，竟成了軟弱不堪。雞蛋一開始是非常脆弱的。一樣，經過了考驗之後變得和之前不同了。雞蛋變得強壯。但是，在這三個食物中最為驚嘆的還是咖啡豆。它的反應簡直是太特別了。咖啡豆放入開水的那一瞬間，便不知不覺地將水的本質改變了。它創造了一個全新的條件與環境。

“所以妳是什麼呢？當挫折敲上了妳的門，妳又會如何應答？妳會是像馬鈴薯，雞蛋，還是咖啡豆一樣呢？”父親對著女孩溫柔的笑了笑。

人的一生不可能是一帆風順。隨時隨地，逆境都有可能會找上門。但是比起表面上發生的事情，真正對於我們來說重要的是我們內心的感受。我們的內心是否有足夠的承受能力來堅持下去。決定權在我們的手上。

所以最後在這裡問一句，您又是什麼呢？馬鈴薯，雞蛋，還是咖啡豆？

出處：網路文章
錄音：Jennifer
配樂：玲玲