You Don’t Have To Settle For Second Best!

Photo by Brooke Lark

As the New Year heralds a new start, human nature is to reflect on our lives and take stock. Many people do introspection and aim to set goals for the coming year. Whatever our plans or wherever our thoughts lead us, we often aspire to make a clean start.

Invariably, we are who we are and like fruit, we all add flavour to life. Have you ever wondered what flavour you add to life? A familiar old song says, “Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you.” Does that ring true to you?

Fruit is important to one’s diet as it provides sweetness and vital nutrients that benefit the body. So too is the case of people in our world; we are all important to each other. We differ in so many ways yet each of us have peculiar characteristics that enrich, enliven and energises others. Consider the analogy below:

We are like fruit…

Some are like pawpaw – soft and smooth

Some are like pineapples – prickly to the touch but sweet on the inside

Some are like watermelons – real thirst quenchers

Some are exotic – you only find them in rare places like dragon fruit

Some are sharp to the palate yet good for you, like kiwi fruit

Some need a lot of work to get to them but the rewards are great, like lychee

Some are slippery and you have to eat them slowly to avoid choking, like a banana

Some are messy yet oh so good to eat, like a ripe mango

Some make a big noise like biting into a juicy green apple

Some have distinct segments like a mandarin

Some are delectable and need to be eaten one at a time, like strawberries

Some have a strong smell like ripe jackfruit and durian

Some bruise easily so you have to handle them with care like peaches and pears

Some offer healing and restoration at every bite, like an orange

Some are even stars of their own design like star fruit

Put them all together and you have a beautiful fruit salad!

So, put your life under the microscope and consider what kind of ‘fruit’ you are. Are you prickly? Are you sweet? Are you sharp or messy? Do you bruise easily or are you noisy?

We are who we are and the way in which we present ourselves makes all the difference to whether we will be selected by the Master Chef to be included in His delectable fruit salad. Matthew 12:33 (NIV) says, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.”◊

Linda Pearl Ramnath