Carrot, Egg, or Coffee: Which One Are You?

The parable about the carrot, egg, and coffee bean is a modern metaphor that explains the different ways people may respond to adversity. The carrot gets weak; the egg hardens, and the coffee bean creates positive change.

Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

One day, a young woman, overwhelmed by life’s challenges, turned to her wise grandmother (not a wolf in disguise), looking for advice. Her grandmother led her to the kitchen.

Grandma placed three pots on the stove and each one with water. As the water began to boil, she added a carrot to the first pot, an egg to the second, and coffee beans to the third. (Not a recommended method for brewing coffee.)

After about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners and removed the items from each pot, placing them in separate bowls.

“What do you see?” the grandmother asked.

“A carrot, an egg, and coffee beans,” the young woman replied, somewhat annoyed.

“Look closer,” said the grandmother. “Touch the carrot.”

The young woman did and noticed that the carrot had become soft and weak.

“Now, break the egg,” her grandmother instructed.

The young woman cracked the shell and saw that the egg had become hard inside.

“Take a sip of the coffee,” the grandmother said.

The young woman took a sip and smiled at the warm aroma and rich flavor.

“What’s the point?” she asked (probably resolved never to bring her worries to her grandma again).

Her grandmother explained, “Each of these faced the same adversity—boiling water. But each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong but came out weak. The egg went in fragile but came out hardened. The coffee beans, however, changed the water itself, creating something entirely new.”

She paused. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you the carrot that weakens, the egg that hardens, or the coffee bean that transforms its environment?”

The problem with the parable

Honestly … the coffee beans also came out weak and the carrot also transformed the boiling water into a weak vegetable broth.

But ya, you get the idea.