In all honesty, I’m not sure how popular the band Firefall were in the grand scheme of things. My father listened to them regularly when I was a kid, so they are well on my radar. As I sit here listening to my record player, the song “Sweet and Sour” is playing. It’s a tune about a relationship that has gone from the former to the latter. This is easy fodder for a song because it is the human experience. People actually order it regularly at a Chinese restaurant. The juxtaposition of extremes brings flavor to our lives. Often we hope for all of our experiences to be “sweet” but that’s an unrealistic expectation. Even if it were to occur, too much of even a good thing can get boring. Since the sour moments are coming our way from time to time, is it possible to “enjoy” them?
It’s a difficult question that’s worth considering. Perhaps, the ability to enjoy the sour moment comes too close to denial. Maybe the idea is not to enjoy it but recognize its value. The stiff spoon full of medicine that may be tough to swallow but will leave you in a better spot later. That recognition is so simple for the medicine but so difficult for trying times that we encounter. Often too much sour can make people bitter. As if the sweet is never coming back and there’s nothing that they can do about it. It’s an easy assumption to make when the sour is pervasive. There are two things that we all need to remember.
First, this too shall pass! Nothing lasts forever, even bad times. It’s easy to forget this in the extremes but it always proves itself again. Whether going through the toughest times or the best, they are going to come to an end at some point. This moment has something to offer you. Perhaps it isn’t what you were looking for but it has gifts to give you.
Second, you may not have control over your taste buds but you do control your perspective. It’s easy to think that the sour is all that there is. If we focus on it, then that truly is the reality that we experience. Focus on the most minuscule sour portion of your life and you can make it your everything. The reverse is also true. Our focus is our reality! And just like the dish at the Chinese restaurant, there is always some of each. It just may not be as obvious as you’d like.
As you go through your day, the world is going to offer all kinds of flavors up to you. Savor those sweet moment! Just recognize that the sours have their place and make the sweet that much better!
Enjoy!
Pete
Huryk Unlimited 