Being the Coffee Bean

An 8 years old girl came to her father and asked angrily- "Why did we come here daddy? Why did we leave our home, friends and school and come to this strange place? " Her father smiled and said "My dear, daddy is in army and has a transferable job, I know you were fond of the previous place and friends but you will like it here soon and you will make lots of friends here". But the disgruntled child was not so easy to persuade. "No! I don't like this place, it is so hot and humid here, the children don't talk to me and the garden is not as big too. I don't want to stay here daddy, please lets go back." 

The man took his daughter to the kitchen and kept water to boil in three different vessels. Once the water was boiling, he put a potato in the first vessel, an egg in the second and coffee beans in the third vessel. After some time he took the contents out of the vessels and showed her- "Look, all three were put in the same situation- boiling water, but they have changed themselves in different manners

• The Potato was hard and difficult to break before being immersed in the water, but now it is soft and can be easily broken using fingers. 

• The Egg was fragile and in liquid form earlier, but now it has become hard and solid.

• The Coffee Beans however, did not change their form, on boiling they released a flavour and aroma which is refreshing and enhances the taste of the liquid.

Changes are a part of life, you cannot avoid changes. But if you are given a choice, tell me my dear, which way would you like to change?"

The little girl was just 8 years old and her problems were confined to losing the bigger garden and the better school. But as we grow and enjoy life for a longer time, we experience bigger and mightier problems everyday- problems in relationships, problems at workplace. problems in career building, problems in communication, unexpected problems, anticipated problems, temporary problems, permanent problems, problems that change according to time and problems that force us to change.

We often come across people who say that time has changed them a lot, who blame their behavior or nature to their situations, who are arrogant, selfish or indifferent and seek comfort in the blanket of victimization and helplessness saying that their situation was too hard to come out of, following which, they became harder than the situations. They learn to criticize, discourage others and listen to only one person- Themselves, whether it is at home or in the outside world. In relationships they are proud to be the one who cares less and take those who care for granted. These are the eggs. 

People belonging to another category loose their self confidence and assertiveness on facing difficulties and failures and surrender before even trying their best. They start dropping their plans soon after making them only because they think it will not be successful. In relationships, they become too fragile, give very less space and expect a lot, and when the expectations are broken, they break down and get more disappointed and frustrated than required. These are the potatoes.

It is already clear from this story that situations are not the factors behind your changes. The situation was the same for all three. The difference came from within, the effect on the three things were according to their internal properties. We talked about a potato, an egg and coffee beans which were by nature and origin different. But we humans are the same, having the same properties, a body, a heart and a mind. If the boiling water cannot be changed, why not change like the coffee?

We watch a movie for 2 hours, still if it is monotonous and boring, we don't like it. This is life! We live it for years and share it with millions. How boring would it be if everyday everything would happen as we thought it would? We love to get surprises on our birthdays and 'not so happy' days, but  sadly forget to enjoy the biggest surprise God has gifted to us- our lives. 

So unwrap it with excitement, believe in yourself, count your blessings and stop dreading changes. Remember you are a coffee bean, you are not special for the form you are in. You are special for your quality, your aroma, your flavour. And once you are a coffee bean from within, whether you are grounded, boiled or roasted, you will be the best and refreshing all the time and everyone around will be tempted to appreciate you and relish your company.