When Adversity Hits

Mary was a young and feisty girl. She had a major problem in that she got annoyed with everything. She felt bad about everything and just always carried a negative attitude. She would get angry as well and was frightened of everything. One day she felt she was so miserable and requested help from her dad.

 She told him that if somehow, she was able to manage and solve a problem, another one followed quickly and so on. Her father consoled her and took her to the kitchen.

He asked Mary to take a potato, an egg and two spoonfuls of tea leaves. Mary was surprised, and asked her father, “What? You want me to cook?”

Her father said no and then took three vessels and poured one cup of water in each vessel. Each vessel was placed on the stove. Once the water started to boil, he dropped a potato in a vessel, the egg in the second one and the tea leaves in the third one.

 Mary was totally instantly annoyed and asked him why he would do those stupid things? He asked her to wait for a few more minutes with patience.

The impatient daughter managed to wait for around 15 minutes.

The Father removed the potato from the pot and placed it on a plate and did the same with eggs. He filtered the tea decoction using a cup.

Then, he placed two plates, he put potato in one and an egg in another, and a cup of tea in front of Mary.

 He asked Mary,  “What do you see?”

Annoyed, she said, “A potato, an egg and a cup of tea!”

“No, you are wrong,” said the father. “Look at it more closely and answer me.”

Mary replied the same.

“Now touch them and answer me.” The potato was cooked and was so soft, the egg was boiled, and not soft anymore and the tea carried a nice aroma. But Mary couldn’t find the correct answer. Her father replied, “Potato was hard and strong before they were boiled; now it has turned soft. Egg was delicate, but after boiling it became hard. The leaves made tea and it is delicious!”

Mary asked, ‘What does it mean father? I don’t understand!’

Her father replied, “That is how you have to be.  Each object was put under the same kind of circumstance, faced similar adversity, but reacted differently. The potato, when put in boiling water, became very weak. The brittle egg becomes hard, when we put it in boiling water. And the tea leaves are unique. It changed the water itself, giving it a unique flavor and aroma! It gave something new.’

Moral of the Story:

We can choose how we respond to a difficult situation.