Carrots, Eggs or Coffee?

This is the story of little Lucia and her mother Marzia.

Lucia went to her mother Marzia to complain about her life and how difficult it was for her: “I feel disheartened, when I solve a problem another one immediately presents itself and I’m tired of fighting”.

Mamma Marzia asked her to follow her into the kitchen and took 3 saucepans, filled them with water and put them on the fire. In one, she put carrots to boil, in the other, some eggs, and in the last one, some coffee beans. She waited the necessary minutes and arranged the carrots, the eggs and a cup of coffee on a large wooden chopping board. Looking at Lucia, she said: “What do you choose to be? The carrot, the egg or the coffee?”

Lucia was perplexed, and she touched the carrots, which were soft and mushy, then she gave a poke to the egg which had become hard. She then put her nose over the cup of steaming coffee, and smelled a rich and fragrant aroma.

Mamma Marzia then explained to Lucia that all the ingredients had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each of them had reacted differently:

“What do you choose to be, my child?

How do you respond when adversity knocks at your door?

Are you like the carrot that seems strong, but when pain touches it becomes weak and limp?

Are you like an egg that in its fragility hides a tender heart and a good character, but life’s trials make it hard?

Does the shell always look the same, but inside is its heart bitter and withered? Or, are you like a coffee bean, which changes the element that causes it pain and at the boiling point reaches its best aroma and flavour?

Lucia waited a few seconds and then said: “When things go wrong, I want to be like a coffee bean! I want to react positively and spread the scent of coffee around me with my attitude”.

– Podere San Cristoforo –