I came
across this old inspirational story again recently. It always reminds me of the job our teaching
staff does on a daily basis to inspire students toward excellence. As we near the last quarter of the school
year, I thought it was a good time to share this story to encourage both
students and parents.
Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee Beans
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?
In life, things happen around us, things happen to us,
but the only thing that truly matters is how we respond to life’s challenges. A
good education is only one element of success. On a daily basis our teachers provide
students not only with academic skills, but also strategies to help them respond
positively to life’s challenges, like the story above. Our teachers strive to
instill a sense of perseverance, grit, fortitude and patience in students. These important life-skills help all of us transform
challenges into success in our career and family life.
It becomes increasingly important that parents and
guardians of our students assume responsibility for teaching the important
lesson of overcoming adversity. There is
no avoiding it in anyone’s lifetime.
Adversity will come and it is so important that our children are given
guidance and advice by not only teachers, but from the people closest to
them. Our society now, more than ever,
needs strong teachers and parents to provide wisdom and advice to our
youth. It may seem like they are not
listening at times, but I believe they are.
One of the great parts of my job is to work with young
people on a daily basis. Not a day goes
by that I do not get a renewed sense of optimism about the future of our
country. I witness many students that
have already learned the valuable lesson of being able to persevere and
overcome adversity. The next time you
see a young student struggle, perhaps you will remember this simple story and
remind that young person that troubles will come, but if they are prepared to
take the “heat” they can overcome any obstacle.
