The Carrot, The Egg and The Coffee Bean – an Inspirational Story
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As teachers, our students will feed on how we feel and they will react accordingly. If we want them to be calm, we have to be calm. But, if we allow ourselves to become frustrated, upset, stressed, or scared, our students will follow our lead and react in the same way.
Children, especially in Early Childhood, are like little sponges that absorb everything from us, every gesture, every word, every attitude, every feeling, which helps them develop their character and the way they see their world. Sadly, sometimes teachers working in Early Childhood are so deep in their own dilemmas and dramas that they forget they have little children on their hands, who are looking up to them for guidance, and allow themselves to react negatively when they have to face adversity, without remembering that we cannot always control what happens to us, but we can definitely control how we face it and react to it, especially when we have small children to consider.
As teachers and role models for our students, we should accept the challenges that life throws at us to be able to teach our students how to do the same and receive it as an opportunity to grow and become stronger human beings, remembering that everything we do, how we think, what we say and what our body language expresses, impact us, how we teach and the little minds of our students.
Some time ago I read a very interesting story that I stumbled upon. This story talks about the way people perceive the events that occur in their lives, about the adversity that we might have to face at some point, and how we might view whatever is happening in our life.
This story made me rethink the way I sometimes react to what is happening in my life at that moment. Even more, it made me look inside myself and put myself in my student’s shoes. The many times that I have been stressed or upset, and how those days my students were “misbehaving”, and about the other moments when my children felt motivated and enthusiastic about what I was trying to teach that day, just because I felt the same.
With this in mind, during the next staff meeting, I wanted to share this unbelievable story with my teachers, hoping to help them think about how their reactions affect the way they are teaching, and therefore; how these reactions affect the learning process of their students as well. I decided to introduce the story by asking them: ‘If you have to compare yourself to a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean, which one will you choose, and why?
One by one, every teacher told the group which item they compare themselves to and why. When they were all finished, I told them I was going to read them a story I found, and I read “The Carrot, The Egg and the Coffee Bean”.
The Carrot, The Egg, and The Coffee Bean Story
This amazing story goes like this….
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as if one problem was solved, but a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last, she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’
‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’ Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique. However, after they were in the boiling water, they changed the water.
‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
Think of This…
Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
My Wish For You…
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
I created some inspirational printables as my gift to you. Just click on the link below and use the ones that resonate the most with your particular story.
Remember That…
“It’s easier to build a child than to repair an adult” – (Frederick Douglass, 1817-1895), and you, as a teacher, have in your hands the power to make wonderful human beings who will become the best adults they can be, or to break them to be weak and unsuccessful.
It is a huge responsibility, but a beautiful one. Remember that you are perfect, just the way you are, and if you believe in yourself, your preschoolers will believe in themselves as well.
I created 14 FREE different printables with this quote, which is one of my favorites. Just click on the link below to grab them.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.S. Please let me know if this activity works for you, and if you would like to see an article or a printable about how to make something specific, please let me know and I will try my best to create it for you. My goal is to help you in any way I can and I don’t like anything better than to post something that you might find useful.
