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

A different type of blog this month but hopefully you will enjoy it and be able to apply it to your financial issues.

We tend to react according to the circumstances in our lives, so this fable is about perspective, adversity and how you might view yourself.

Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her mother 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 mother, a chef, took her to the kitchen and said, “I want to show you something.” She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, she placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

She then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what she was doing.

After twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

She then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her she asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer,” she said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Mother, what does this mean?” she asked.

She then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water. The boiling water had changed them. 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.

The question is: Which one are you?

Are you the potato that seems strong? But when struggling with your finances, do you grow soft and lose heart?

Are you the egg that starts fragile, but changes with financial hardship? On the outside do you look the same, but on the inside you are bitter and tough and not willing to accept help?

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water – the very circumstance that brings the adversity– into something good. If you are like the bean, when struggling with your finances, you work hard to change the situation for the better, gladly accepting help.

Whether you are a potato, an egg or a coffee bean, we are here to help.

And remember: