In one of my favorite stories I came upon on moralstories.org, a girl complained to her father that her life was becoming depressing. Her father responded to his daughter with a demonstration. He showed her potatoes, eggs and ground coffee beans. He put all of the three items in three pots.

After they boiled, he took them out. The girl noticed that the potatoes got soft and fragile. After breaking the eggs, the eggs became hard-boiled, but it was still brittle. Finally, the girl observed how the beans turned into coffee, smiling as she smelled the aroma.

Do you understand the moral of the story? In life we face many obstacles, no one has it easy. In the story, they each faced being boiled. Most people have been through situations up to the point where they probably have felt like giving up. It’s not that difficult to give up.

One of my all-time favorite quotes is, “Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do, but to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength,” by unknown.

Losing a family member, losing a job, fighting with parents or siblings or failing classes can be some of the many explanations as to why people would understand if you fell apart. You shouldn’t allow those tragic events to to make you give up.

Giving up is too easy. Bear Grylls, adventurer, writer and television presenter, stated that “good things do not come easy.” So, if you are in need or want to have good things coming your way, it’s not going to be easy at all.

You can act like the potatoes and eggs by giving up on people and things and being done with life, or you can be the beans that turn into coffee. You can get help, find a way to cope with that situation and become stronger.  You can change your attitude of that situation you faced. It’s all up to us. We have the choice. The world awaits for us to make our choices, which will affect what happens to our surroundings.

Whatever happens to me, I try to find a reason for that. Growing and being raised as a Christian has made me to believe that everything happens for a reason. Even if something unpleasant happens, I overreact a little at first, however I soon come to realize that God has plan in stored for me. One of my good friends said that “right now, you are only seeing the little pieces of which God has planned for you, you just haven’t seen the picture in full.”

I learned to look at the positive sides of every negative situation I face upon. A lot of the times, it is very difficult. However, it is my way of having hope and faith that everything will be alright, even if it’s not now.

For example, take Nick Vujicic, a man without arms and legs. Even though he may face difficult obstacles, he doesn’t let those affect him. Evgeny Smirnov, a Russian break dance champion, lost his leg and ability to dance. However, he did not give up. He, instead, kept pushing and learned to dance again.

Giving up doesn’t lead to a good road. Overcome, conquer, defeat and beat what gets in your way of life. Anything and everything can happen to you in life. However, the only thing that’s important is how you choose to react to that complication. It’s about learning, experiencing, understanding, adapting, discovering and transforming all the obstacles and struggles into something positive. How will you react? Are you going to be a potato, egg or bean?