Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Chocolates or onions? You decide

My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Forrest Gump

True. Life is much like that box of chocolates. You might be delighted by the contents, or it might be filled with something nasty. The problem with this analogy is that if I bite into a chocolate I don't care for, I promptly put it back and continue tasting until I find one that suits my taste buds. Don't tell me you don't do the same thing!

In my estimation, life is more like an onion....full of flavor, but awfully stinky and makes you cry. Now of course, being a professing chocoholic, I much prefer Forrest's romanticized view of life to the stinky version. Depression has a way of stripping away the romanticized view and forcing you to see things you never wanted to see. Chocolates come packed in beautiful wrapping making you giddy with anticipation at what's inside. Onions on the other hand, come wrapped in a dry, flaky outer shell meant only to protect the contents.

Have you ever noticed an onion doesn't stink until you cut into it? True to life, the flaky shell keeps everything together and smelling OK. Its not until you peel it back that you begin to see the layers and smell what's inside. Isn't that just like life? I spent years keeping my heart covered up...it kept everything inside smelling fine and no one was the wiser. I was in control...or so I thought. God used my depression to bring me to the end of myself and then ever so gently, one by one, He began to peel back the layers. Some of them are smelly. Most of them make me cry, but all of them are leading me to the heart of who I really am and most importantly, who HE is.

Now, would you like an onion with that cuppa joe?

5 comments:

  1. Brilliant analogy!
    I will say, that I refuse to bite into a chocolate without knowing what's inside. I'm guilty of putting thumbprints in the bottoms of all the chocolates and then placing them back in the box. I can't stand the thought of biting into a cherry or some other ghastly filling by accident...
    But onions, even knowing what I'll face inside, I continue to cut them anyway. Does that make me a good friend?

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  2. How happy we are that God chose you to be in our family. Guardian,caretaker,mother and most of all lover of God,family and friends. You are so special

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  3. There are many women out there that suffer from depression each day.
    God knows what each of these women are going through. God is the great healer and He will reveal in His Time how and when He will heal you. If He chooses to do so.
    Don't forget that God also created doctors that help with depression too!
    Your blog has touched my heart and you are in my prayers.
    Please visit me at Seeking Grace on the Narrow Path.
    God bless you.
    Your sister in Christ,
    Bren

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  4. Don't forget that "Onions have layers". Isn't it funny that what's sought in the sweet gooey filling of a chocolate will rot your teeth, while the gas inducing, toxic breath producing flavor of the onion helps you grow healthier?

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